The unemployment rate for the OECD area was 8.6% in September 2009, the same as the previous month and 2.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the unemployment rate was 9.7% in September 2009, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.0 percentage points higher than in September 2008. For the United States, the unemployment rate for October 2009 was 10.2%, 0.4 percentage point higher than the previous month and 3.6 percentage points higher than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 5.3% in September 2009, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.3 percentage points higher than in September 2008.

In September 2009, the unemployment rate for France was 10.0%, 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.0 percentage points higher than a year earlier. For Germany, the rate was 7.6% in September 2009, the same as the previous month and 0.5 percentage point higher than in September 2008. For Canada, the unemployment rate was 8.6% in October 2009, 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier. In July 2009, the rate in the United Kingdom was 7.8%, the same as the previous month and 2.1 percentage points higher than in July 2008.

It should be noted that the latest October data in this release for the United States (10.2%) and Canada (8.6%) show unemployment rising.