The unemployment rate in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) stood at 4.9% in November 2022, the fifth consecutive month at this record low rate since the start of the series in 2001.

The OECD unemployment rate decreased slightly to 5.1% for women, while it was stable at 4.7% for men. It also decreased slightly for young workers (aged 15-24) and was stable for workers aged 25 and above.

In Australia, the unemployment rate stood at 3.4%, no change from the previous month. In Japan the unemployment rate fell over the month by 0.1% to 2.5%. In South Korea the unemployment rate gained a percentage point over the month to 2.9% in November.

In Turkey the unemployment rate was stable at 10.0%, while in Israel, the rate fell by 0.1% to 3.9%.

In Colombia the rate increased to 11.1% from 10.9% the month before. In the US, it stood at 3.6%, down from 3.7% the month before while in Canada it also fell to 5.1% from 5.2% the month prior.

More recent data show that in December 2022, the unemployment rate continued to decrease in Canada to 5.0% (only 0.1 percentage point higher than its lowest level) and edged down to its record low of 3.5% in the US.

In the European Union and the euro area, the unemployment rate in November 2022 remained at record lows of 6.0% and 6.5%, respectively.

The OECD employment and labour force participation rates were stable at 69.4% and 73.2% in the third quarter of 2022, their highest levels since the start of the series in 2005 and 2008 respectively. About 40% of OECD countries were at record highs for both indicators. The number of persons employed, as employees or self-employed workers, also reached its highest level at 607.9 million workers.

Meanwhile, the OECD employment rate in the third quarter of 2022 edged up to 62.4% for women, while it decreased to 76.6% for men for the first time in over two years. The OECD labour force participation rate reached its highest level of 65.9% for women and remained stable for men at its pre-pandemic level of 80.6%.