The number of unemployed people rose to 33.3 million in September, the highest level so far this year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s tracking of 38 countries. The OECD, an intergovernmental organisation, attributed the rise to an increase in the number of unemployed men.

Overall, however, the unemployment rate for OECD-tracked countries remained at 4.8% from the month before. The rate has been below 5% since July 2022. In all OECD categories — men, women, youth (15-24) and workers aged 25 or more — unemployment rates remained stable over the month, according to the report.

In Europe, the unemployment rate has been around 6.5% since February. The rate was stable or increased slightly for all countries in that region with the exception of Greece, where it fell to 10% in September, the country’s lowest level since August 2009, the OECD said. Spain's unemployment rate (12%) remained the highest in the Euro area in September.

Countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the month were Czechia and Mexico (2.7%), followed by Poland (2.8%).

The highest unemployment rates in September were in Spain (12%), Greece (10%), and Colombia (9.7%).

The 38 countries tracked in the OECD report are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US.

-Henry Liu