The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area remained at 5.8% in December 2006, the same as the previous month but 0.6 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

In the Euro area(2), the standardised unemployment rate was 7.5% in December 2006, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.9 percentage point lower than a year earlier. The United States’ standardised unemployment rate for January 2007 was 4.6%, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month but 0.1 percentage point lower than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 4.1% in December 2006, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month but 0.3 percentage point lower than in December 2005.

In December 2006, the standardised unemployment rate in France was 8.5%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.1 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In Germany, the rate was 7.9% in December 2006, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.4 percentage point lower than in December 2005. In Canada, the standardised unemployment rate fell to 6.1% in December 2006, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.4 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In October 2006, the rate in the United Kingdom remained at 5.4%, 0.4 percentage point higher than a year earlier. In September 2006, the standardised unemployment rate in Italy remained at 6.7%, 1.0 percentage point lower than a year earlier.