The unemployment rate for the OECD area was 6.5% in November 2008, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.8 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the unemployment rate was 7.8% in November 2008, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.6 percentage point higher than a year earlier. For the United States the unemployment rate for December 2008 was 7.2%, 0.4 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 4.0% in November 2008, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.2 percentage point higher than in November 2007.

In November 2008, the unemployment rate for France was 7.9%, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.1 percentage point higher than a year earlier. For Germany, the rate was 7.1% in November 2008, the same as the previous month and 0.9 percentage point lower than in November 2007. For Canada, the unemployment rate was 6.6% in December 2008, 0.3 percentage point higher the previous month and 0.6 percentage point higher than a year earlier. In September 2008, the rate in the United Kingdom was 5.9%, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.7 percentage point higher than in September 2007. In September 2008, the unemployment rate in Italy was 6.7%, the same as the previous month and 0.5 percentage point higher than a year earlier.