In August 2010, unemployment in the OECD area fell slightly to 8.5% (from 8.6% in July). The unemployment rate has returned to August 2009 levels and unemployment now appears stable across OECD countries. Further evidence is seen in the latest September 2010 unemployment rates for the United States, where the rate was unchanged from its August level, at 9.6%, and in Canada, where it was down 0.1 percentage point at 8.0%.

However, the OECD unemployment rate remains close to post-war highs. The August unemployment rate was highest in Spain (20.5%), the Slovak Republic (14.6%), Ireland (13.9%), Hungary (10.9%) and Portugal (10.7%), with the lowest rates in Korea (3.4%) Austria (4.3%), and the Netherlands (4.5%).

The number of unemployed persons in OECD countries stood at 45.5 million in August 2010, an increase of 13.4 million compared with July 2008.

Selected Unemployment Rates, s.a.

July 2010 - August 2010