Annual average (a) (b)

2008 (a)

Country

2004

2005

2006

2007

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Australia

5.4

5.0

4.8

4.4

4.3

4.1

4.3

Canada

7.2

6.8

6.3

6.0

6.2

6.1

France

9.3

9.2

8.3

7.7

7.8

8.0

7.9

Germany

9.8

10.6

9.8

8.4

7.3

7.2

7.1

Italy

8.1

7.7

6.8

6.2

6.8

Japan

4.7

4.4

4.1

3.9

4.1

4.0

4.2

4.0

New Zealand (c)

3.9

3.7

3.6

3.9

United Kingdom

4.7

4.8

5.4

5.3

5.5

5.6

United States

5.5

5.1

4.6

5.5

5.7

6.1

OECD average

6.9

6.7

6.1

5.6

5.8

5.9

6.0

G7 average

6.4

6.2

5.8

5.4

5.8

6.0

Euro-zone average

8.9

8.7

7.8

7.2

7.4

7.5

(a) Unemployment as a percentage of labour force.

(b) Years shown are calendar years.

Note: The unemployment rates shown above have been adjusted as necessary by the OECD

to conform to international definitions and to ensure consistency over time.

Sources: Datastream

ABS, Labour force, Cat. no. 6202.0

Update

Late January 2009