Harmonised Unemployment Rate UK Comparisons 2007 to 2019
The OECD produces harmonised unemployment rates for OECD members based on the ILO definition of unemployment.
The UK harmonised unemployment rate for Q3 2018 was 4.1%. This was slightly above the rate of the US (3.8%), below that of France (9.1%) but above that of Germany (3.4%). The UK rate was the 13th lowest of the 36 OECD member countries.
The unemployment rate for the Eurozone fell to 7.9% in Q4 2018 from 8.0% in Q3 2018, and was unchanged for the G7 at 4.5%. The Q4 figure for the UK has not yet been published.
The majority of the OECD countries have seen a fall in the unemployment rate over the last year.
Greece had the highest unemployment rate out of the OECD member states for Q3 2018 (18.9%) followed by Spain at 15.0%.
The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment rate in the OECD for Q2 2018 at 2.3%.
Youth (aged 15-24) unemployment is a major issue in many developed economies at present. In Q3 2018 youth unemployment was 37.5% in Greece, 34.3% in Spain and 32.0% in Italy. UK youth unemployment stood at 11.3%.
Read Full News Story » UK Economic Indicators January 2019
