The annual unemployment rate was broadly stable in the OECD in 2024, at 4.9%, with record lows in Costa Rica, Israel, and the Slovak Republic. The OECD unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9% in December 2024, having been at or just below 5.0% throughout 2024 (Figure 1 and Table 1). Compared with November, December unemployment rates were unchanged in 19 OECD countries, rose in 7, and declined in 6. Four OECD countries recorded a monthly unemployment rate below 3.0% including Israel at its record low (2.6%). However, the unemployment rate was 2.0 percentage points [p.p.] or more above its record low in nine OECD countries (Figure 2 and Table 1).
In the European Union and the euro area, unemployment rates remained broadly stable in December at 5.9% and 6.3%, respectively. The unemployment rate was stable in two-thirds of the 17 OECD euro area countries while it decreased in Lithuania, Finland, and Portugal. It rose in Italy after five consecutive months of decline, and in Austria. Since February 2022, Spain’s unemployment rate remained the highest of the OECD euro area countries (Table 1). Outside Europe, compared with December 2024, data for January 2025 showed unemployment rates in Canada and the United States remained broadly stable at 6.6% and 4.0%, respectively.
In 2024, the number of unemployed women and men in the OECD remained broadly stable, rising slightly to a total of 34.3 million, just above the level in 2023 (Figure 3 and table 2). OECD unemployment rates for both women and men were broadly stable in December 2024, at 5.2% and 4.7%, respectively. The OECD unemployment rate among younger workers (aged 15-24) declined slightly to 11.1%. It stood 7.0 p.p. above the unemployment rate for workers aged 25 and above which remained stable. Youth unemployment remained at or above 20% in 7 OECD countries in December (or in the latest available period). By contrast, Japan and Israel recorded the lowest youth unemployment rates in the OECD area, each below 4.0% (Tables 3 and 4).
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