OECD Standardised Unemployment Rates (SURs) - July 2004

OECD Standardised Unemployment Rate Remained at 6.9% in May 2004

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09/07/2004 - The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area(1) remained at 6.9% in May 2004, 0.3 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the standardised unemployment rate remained at 9.0% in May 2004, 0.1 percentage point higher than a year earlier. In June 2004, for the United States, the standardised unemployment rate remained at 5.6%, 0.7 percentage point lower than a year earlier. For Japan, the standardised unemployment rate was 4.6% in May 2004, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.8 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

Over the twelve months to May 2004, the standardised unemployment rate in France remained at 9.4%. In Germany, the standardised unemployment rate was 9.8%, 0.1 percentage point higher than a year earlier. In Canada, the standardised unemployment rate was 7.2% in May 2004, 0.7 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In March 2004, the standardised unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was 4.7%, 0.3 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In January 2004, the standardised unemployment rate in Italy was 8.5%, 0.4 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

Tables and graphs

Standardised unemployment rates for the other OECD countries.

The next publication date of the OECD's standardised unemployment rates will be on 10 September 2004.

For further information, journalists are invited to contact the OECD's Media Relations Division on (33) 1 45 24 97 00 or e-mail news.contact@oecd.org.

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(1) The OECD area in this press release covers the 27 OECD member countries for which standardised unemployment rates have been estimated. These comprise the 12 member countries of the Euro area plus Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. Monthly figures include OECD Secretariat estimates for countries which only compile quarterly rates.

Methodological Notes
The OECD standardised unemployment rates, compiled for 27 OECD member countries, are based on definitions of the 13th Conference of Labour Statisticians (generally referred to as the ILO guidelines). Under these definitions, the unemployed are persons of working age who, in the reference period, are without work, are available for work and have taken specific steps to find work.

The uniform application of the definitions results in estimates that are more internationally comparable than those based on national definitions. National unemployment data in some countries only include persons registered at government labour offices. Under the ILO definition, persons without work who are seeking employment through other means can also be classified as unemployed and registrants can be excluded if they worked or were not available for work. The standardised unemployment rates shown here are calculated as the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the civilian labour force (i.e the unemployed plus those in civilian employment). The standardised unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted.

The standardised unemployment rates for the European Union (EU) member countries and Norway are produced by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat). The OECD is responsible for the collection of data and calculation of standardised unemployment rates for the remaining countries.

In September 2000, Eurostat adopted a new unemployment definition through a Commission Regulation. Details about the new definition and its implementation are available on Eurostat Internet site.

The Euro area covers the following 12 countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

The EU15 area covers the Euro area plus Denmark, United Kingdom and Sweden.

The OECD area in this press release covers the 27 OECD member countries for which standardised unemployment rates have been estimated. These comprise the 19 of the 25 European Union countries which are also members of the OECD plus Canada, United States, Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

Monthly figures include OECD Secretariat estimates for countries which only compile quarterly rates.