International unemployment rates, July 2012

In July 2012, among countries covered by the BLS international comparisons program, Italy (10.8 percent) and France (10.0 percent) had the highest unemployment rates. Japan had the lowest unemployment rate (3.9 percent). Concepts and definitions of unemployment in labor force surveys may differ from country to country, and BLS adjusts the estimates from some countries to make them more comparable with U.S. concepts and definitions.

Unemployment rates adjusted to U.S. concepts, selected countries, seasonally adjusted, January 2007–July 2012

Month	Italy	France	United States	Sweden	Canada	Germany	Netherlands	Australia	Japan
Jan 2007	6.3	8.6	4.6	6.5	5.4	9.3	4.0	4.5	3.8
Feb 2007	6.1	8.6	4.5	6.2	5.4	9.2	4.0	4.6	3.8
Mar 2007	6.0	8.5	4.4	6.3	5.4	9.0	3.8	4.4	3.8
Apr 2007	5.9	8.3	4.5	6.1	5.3	8.9	3.7	4.4	3.6
May 2007	6.1	8.2	4.4	5.9	5.1	8.8	3.6	4.3	3.6
Jun 2007	6.1	8.1	4.6	6.2	5.2	8.7	3.5	4.3	3.4
Jul 2007	6.4	8.2	4.7	5.9	5.3	8.6	3.6	4.3	3.4
Aug 2007	6.2	8.1	4.6	5.9	5.2	8.6	3.5	4.3	3.5
Sep 2007	6.1	8.0	4.7	6.1	5.1	8.5	3.4	4.2	3.7
Oct 2007	6.2	7.7	4.7	6.1	5.1	8.4	3.4	4.3	3.8
Nov 2007	6.2	7.5	4.7	5.9	5.2	8.3	3.4	4.5	3.6
Dec 2007	6.6	7.3	5.0	5.8	5.3	8.1	3.3	4.3	3.6
Jan 2008	6.5	7.2	5.0	6.0	5.2	8.0	3.3	4.2	3.6
Feb 2008	6.5	7.1	4.9	5.7	5.2	7.8	3.0	4.0	3.7
Mar 2008	6.5	7.1	5.1	5.6	5.2	7.7	3.0	4.1	3.5
Apr 2008	6.8	7.3	5.0	5.5	5.3	7.7	3.1	4.3	3.6
May 2008	7.0	7.4	5.4	5.6	5.2	7.6	3.1	4.3	3.6
Jun 2008	7.1	7.5	5.6	6.2	5.3	7.5	3.1	4.3	3.7
Jul 2008	6.8	7.4	5.8	6.0	5.2	7.5	3.1	4.3	3.6
Aug 2008	7.0	7.4	6.1	5.9	5.1	7.4	3.0	4.1	3.7
Sep 2008	6.9	7.5	6.1	6.3	5.2	7.4	3.1	4.3	3.7
Oct 2008	6.9	7.6	6.5	6.3	5.3	7.4	3.0	4.3	3.5
Nov 2008	7.1	7.8	6.8	6.8	5.6	7.4	3.0	4.5	3.7
Dec 2008	7.0	8.0	7.3	6.7	6.0	7.4	3.1	4.6	4.1
Jan 2009	7.3	8.4	7.8	6.8	6.4	7.4	3.1	4.9	4.0
Feb 2009	7.4	8.7	8.3	7.6	6.9	7.5	3.2	5.4	4.3
Mar 2009	7.6	9.0	8.7	7.9	7.2	7.7	3.3	5.7	4.6
Apr 2009	7.6	9.2	8.9	7.8	7.4	7.9	3.5	5.5	4.7
May 2009	7.5	9.3	9.4	8.8	7.6	7.9	3.6	5.8	4.8
Jun 2009	7.9	9.3	9.5	8.4	7.6	7.9	3.6	5.9	4.9
Jul 2009	8.0	9.2	9.5	8.4	7.7	7.9	3.8	5.7	5.1
Aug 2009	8.1	9.3	9.6	8.6	7.7	7.9	3.9	5.8	5.1
Sep 2009	8.3	9.4	9.8	8.6	7.4	7.9	4.1	5.7	5.0
Oct 2009	8.3	9.5	10.0	8.6	7.4	7.8	4.1	5.6	4.9
Nov 2009	8.3	9.6	9.9	8.6	7.5	7.8	4.3	5.6	4.9
Dec 2009	8.4	9.6	9.9	8.8	7.5	7.7	4.4	5.5	4.9
Jan 2010	8.5	9.7	9.7	8.7	7.3	7.4	4.6	5.3	4.8
Feb 2010	8.6	9.6	9.8	8.7	7.3	7.4	4.5	5.3	4.7
Mar 2010	8.6	9.5	9.8	8.5	7.4	7.4	4.5	5.4	4.8
Apr 2010	8.7	9.4	9.9	8.9	7.3	7.2	4.5	5.5	4.8
May 2010	8.8	9.4	9.6	8.5	7.2	7.1	4.5	5.2	4.8
Jun 2010	8.5	9.4	9.4	8.2	7.0	7.1	4.5	5.2	4.8
Jul 2010	8.5	9.3	9.5	8.4	7.1	7.0	4.6	5.3	4.7
Aug 2010	8.3	9.4	9.6	8.2	7.1	7.0	4.5	5.1	4.7
Sep 2010	8.3	9.4	9.5	8.1	7.0	6.9	4.4	5.1	4.8
Oct 2010	8.6	9.3	9.5	7.9	6.9	6.9	4.4	5.3	4.8
Nov 2010	8.4	9.3	9.8	7.8	6.7	6.8	4.4	5.1	4.7
Dec 2010	8.3	9.2	9.4	7.8	6.5	6.8	4.3	4.9	4.6
Jan 2011	8.2	9.3	9.1	7.7	6.7	6.3	4.3	5.1	4.5
Feb 2011	8.0	9.3	9.0	7.5	6.7	6.2	4.3	5.0	4.3
Mar 2011	8.0	9.3	8.9	7.6	6.6	6.1	4.2	4.9	4.3
Apr 2011	8.0	9.2	9.0	7.4	6.6	6.0	4.2	4.9	4.4
May 2011	8.2	9.2	9.0	7.5	6.4	6.0	4.3	5.0	4.3
Jun 2011	8.2	9.2	9.1	7.4	6.5	5.9	4.2	5.0	4.3
Jul 2011	8.3	9.3	9.1	7.4	6.3	5.9	4.4	5.1	4.3
Aug 2011	8.4	9.3	9.1	7.3	6.4	5.9	4.4	5.3	4.0
Sep 2011	8.9	9.3	9.0	7.2	6.4	5.8	4.6	5.2	3.8
Oct 2011	9.0	9.3	8.9	7.4	6.5	5.8	4.8	5.1	4.1
Nov 2011	9.4	9.4	8.7	7.3	6.5	5.8	5.0	5.2	4.1
Dec 2011	9.5	9.4	8.5	7.3	6.5	5.8	4.9	5.2	4.1
Jan 2012	9.8	9.6	8.3	7.5	6.5	5.7	5.0	5.1	4.3
Feb 2012	10.1	9.7	8.3	7.4	6.3	5.7	4.9	5.2	4.1
Mar 2012	10.5	9.7	8.2	7.3	6.2	5.7	5.0	5.2	4.1
Apr 2012	10.7	9.7	8.1	7.3	6.4	5.7	5.3	5.0	4.2
May 2012	10.6	9.8	8.2	7.6	6.5	5.7	5.2	5.1	4.0
Jun 2012	10.8	9.9	8.2	7.3	6.3	5.7	5.2	5.3	3.9
Jul 2012	10.8	10.0	8.3	7.4	6.3	5.7	5.3	5.2	3.9
Footnotes: (1) Japan data from March 2011 through August 2011 are based on reference estimates from the Statistics Bureau of Japan that include areas affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake.

Click legend items to change data display.

[Chart data]

From July 2011 to July 2012, among those countries covered in the BLS comparisons, the United States experienced the largest decrease in its unemployment rate (−0.8 percentage point), followed by Japan (−0.4 percentage point). Italy recorded the largest increase in its unemployment rate (+2.5 percentage points), followed by the Netherlands (+0.9 percentage point) and France (+0.7 percentage point). Canada, Sweden, Australia and Germany experienced little or no change in their unemployment rates over the year.

In July 2012, among those countries in the European Union (EU) whose unemployment rates are not adjusted to U.S. concepts by BLS, Spain had the highest unemployment rate (25.1 percent), followed by Portugal (15.7 percent) and Ireland (14.9 percent). Austria recorded the lowest unemployment rate (4.5 percent).

These data are from the International Labor Comparisons program. To learn more, see "International Unemployment rates and Employment Indexes, Seasonally Adjusted, 2008–2012" (HTML) (PDF) (XLS). For further information on comparability issues, see "International unemployment rates: how comparable are they?," by Constance Sorrentino, in the June 2000 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.