The unemployment rate in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries stood at 4.8% in November, remaining at its lowest level for the ninth consecutive month in the historical series, which began in 2001, according to the organisation. Spain is the member country with the highest unemployment rate, at 11.9%.
In the penultimate month of 2023, the unemployment rate remained unchanged in 20 OECD countries, fell in seven and rose in six. The rate has thus been below 5% since July 2022. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people in OECD countries rose in November to 33.397 million, increasing 40,000 from the previous month.
The highest unemployment rates in the OECD were in Spain (11.9%), Colombia (10.3%) and Greece (9.4%). In contrast, the lowest unemployment rates were found in the Czech Republic at 2.4%, Japan at 2.5%, and South Korea, Poland, Mexico and Israel, all at 2.8%.
Unemployment among the under-25s fell by one-tenth of a percentage point in November to 10.8%. The highest levels of youth unemployment were in Spain (27.9%), ahead of Greece (27.3%) and Portugal (23.5%). By contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Japan (4.3%), Israel (5.3%) and Germany (5.6%).