The unemployment rate in the OECD fell further to 5.0% in April 2022, from 5.1% in March. This continues a positive trend for the OECD, which has now recorded 12 months of falling unemployment (Figure 1).
The unemployment rate was equal to or below the pre-pandemic rate in three quarters of OECD countries in April (Figure 2). Moreover, the number of unemployed workers in the OECD also continued to fall, reaching 34.0 million, 0.5 million below the pre-pandemic level.
A decline in the OECD unemployment rate was recorded for women (Table 2), as well as for all age groups (Table 3). However, the unemployment rate for men was stable at 4.9%.
In the euro area, the unemployment rate remained stable at 6.8% in April for the third month in a row. It turned upwards in one quarter of the euro area countries, with the largest increase observed in Greece (Table 1).
Outside the euro area, the unemployment rate fell markedly in Colombia, and more modestly in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Israel, Japan and Mexico. However, unemployment increased in the Czech Republic and Hungary. More recent data show that in May 2022, the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.6% for the third consecutive month in the United States.
It should be noted that the unemployment rate does not capture non-employed people who are outside of the labour force, either because they are not actively looking for a job or are not available for work.
