UNEMPLOYMENT RATES FOR THE OECD AERA.

• Position: Brief Article

The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area fell to 6.9% inaDecember 2003, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.2 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In the Euro area, the standardised unemployment rate remained at 8.8% in December 2003,a0.2 percentage point higher than a year earlier. For the United States, the standardised unemployment rate was 5.7% in December 2003, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.3 percentage point lower than a year earlier. For Japan, the standardised unemployment rate was 4.9% in December 2003, 0.3 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.6 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

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