The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area was 6.0% in September 2008, the same as the previous month and 0.4 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the unemployment rate was 7.5% in September 2008, the same as the previous month and 0.2 percentage point higher than a year earlier. For the United States the unemployment rate for October 2008 was 6.5%, 0.4 percentage point higher than the previous month and 1.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 4.0% in September 2008, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month but the same as in September 2007.

In September 2008, the unemployment rate for France was 7.9%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.1 percentage point lower than a year earlier. For Germany, the rate was 7.1% in September 2008, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.1 percentage points lower than in September 2007. For Canada, the unemployment rate was 6.2% in October 2008, 0.1 percentage point higher the previous month and 0.4 percentage point higher than a year earlier. In July 2008, the rate in the United Kingdom was 5.6%, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.3 percentage point higher than in July 2007.