OECD unemployment rate falls to 6.9% in Nov

ANKARA

The unemployment rate in member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) further diminished to 6.9% in November, the body announced Wednesday.

The figure was 7.1% in September.

Yet, the November figure remained about 1.7 percentage points above the level observed in February, before the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the labor market, the global body noted.

The OECD area unemployment rate for youth -- people aged 15 to 24 -- slipped to 14.3% from 14.4% in October, well below its peak of 19% in April.

A total of 45.5 million people were unemployed in the OECD area, 10.7 million more than in February.

In November, the unemployment rate in the euro area fell to 8.3%, from 8.4% in October, but remained 1.1 percentage points above the February level.

Declines of 0.3 percentage point or more were seen in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal, while increases of 0.2 percentage point or more were registered in France, Ireland, and Spain.

In the US, the number of people on temporary lay-off declined by 6.7% in November, a slower pace than in previous months.

Canada's unemployment rate in November fell by 0.4 percentage point to 8.5%.

In Japan, the joblessness rate stands at 2.9%, down from the October figure of 3.1%.