The unemployment rate in the OECD area decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 6.5% in January 2016, 1.6 percentage points below its peak value of January 2013.
Overall, 39.9 million people were unemployed in the OECD area, 9 million fewer than in January 2013, but still 7.4 million more than in April 2008, before the crisis.
In January 2016, the unemployment rate in the euro area was down by 0.1 percentage point to 10.3%, extending its downward trend.
Within the euro area, the steepest declines were observed in the Slovak Republic (a decrease of 0.3 percentage point to 10.3%), in Ireland (a decrease of 0.2 percentage point to 8.6%), in Luxembourg (a decrease of 0.2 percentage point to 5.8%), and in Spain (a decrease of 0.2 percentage point to 20.5%).
The unemployment rate in January 2016 was also down by 0.1 percentage point in the United States (to 4.9%) and in Japan (to 3.2%), while it increased by 0.1 percentage point in Canada, to 7.2%.
More recent data shows that in February 2016, the unemployment rate was stable in the United States.
