Unemployment – International Comparisons: Key Economic Indicators

The OECD produces harmonised unemployment rates for OECD members based on the ILO definition of unemployment.

The UK harmonised unemployment rate for Q1 2022 was 3.7%, down from 4.0% in Q4 2021. The UK rate for Q1 2022 was above Germany (3.0%) but below the US (3.8%) and France (7.3%).

The rate for the Eurozone fell from 6.8% to 6.6% in Q2 2022, while in the G7 it fell from 4.2% to 4.0%. The Q2 figure for the UK has not yet been published.

Unemployment rates rose in almost all the OECD countries following the coronavirus outbreak, although the size of the increase varied widely.

Costa Rica had the highest unemployment rate out of the OECD member states in Q1 2022 at 13.5%, followed by Spain at 13.3%. Czech Republic had the lowest at 2.4%.

Youth (aged 15-24) unemployment is a major issue in many developed economies at present. In Q1 2022 the youth unemployment rate was 34.1% in Costa Rica, 33.3% in Greece and 29.9% in Spain. It was 10.6% in the UK.