The unemployment rate in the OECD area decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 6.2% in October 2016, 1.9 percentage points below its peak value in January 2013. The rate recorded in France was 9.7%.
Overall, 38.8 million people were unemployed in the OECD area, 10.2 million fewer than in January 2013, but still 6.2 million more than in April 2008, before the crisis.
In October 2016, the unemployment rate in the euro area decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 9.8%, 2.3 percentage points below its peak value in April 2013. Within the euro area, the unemployment rate decreased the most, by 0.2 percentage points, in Austria (to 5.9%), Ireland (to 7.5%), Latvia (to 9.5%), and Slovakia (to 9.1%).
Outside the euro area, in October 2016, the unemployment rate was stable in Canada (at 7.0%) and Japan (at 3.0%) while it decreased in Mexico (by 0.3 percentage points, to 3.6%) and the United States (by 0.1 percentage points, to 4.9%).
More recent data shows that in November 2016, the unemployment rate continued to decrease in the United States (by 0.3 percentage points, to 4.6%), while it also decreased in Canada (by 0.2 percentage points, to 6.8%).
The youth (aged 15-24) unemployment rate in the OECD area was stable at 12.8% in October. It was also stable in the euro area (at 20.7%), with varying developments across countries.
While the youth unemployment rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points in Italy (to 36.4%), it increased by 0.7 percentage points in Spain (to 43.6%, after five consecutive months of decrease), and by 0.4 percentage points in France (to 25.8%).
