The unemployment rate for the OECD area was 8.8% in October 2009, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the unemployment rate was 9.8% in October 2009, the same as the previous month and 1.9 percentage points higher than in October 2008. For the United States, the unemployment rate for November 2009 was 10.0%, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous month and 3.2 percentage points higher than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 5.1% in October 2009, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.3 percentage points higher than in October 2008.

In October 2009, the unemployment rate for France was 10.1%, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.0 percentage points higher than a year earlier. For Germany, the rate was 7.5% in October 2009, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.4 percentage point higher than in October 2008. For Canada, the unemployment rate was 8.5% in November 2009, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 2.1 percentage points higher than a year earlier. In August 2009, the rate in the United Kingdom was 7.8%, the same as the previous month and 1.9 percentage points higher than in August 2008. In October 2009, the unemployment rate for Italy was 8.0%, 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous month and 1.0 percentage point higher than a year earlier.

It should be noted that the latest November data in this release for the United States (10.0%) and Canada (8.5%) show falling unemployment.