The OECD unemployment rate remained broadly stable at its record low of 4.8% in January 2025.
This record low was first reached in March 2023 and the unemployment rate has remained close to this level ever since.
Compared with December 2024, January unemployment rates were unchanged in 19 OECD countries, declined in 11, and rose in 3.
Five OECD countries recorded a monthly unemployment rate close to their record lows, while the unemployment rate was 2.0 percentage points [p.p.] or more above its record low in eight OECD countries.
The number of unemployed persons in the OECD decreased slightly to 34 million in January.
In January 2025, the OECD unemployment rate for women and men remained broadly stable, at 5.1% and 4.6%, respectively. The unemployment rate for women exceeded that of men in the European Union, the euro area, and 20 OECD countries in January 2025 (or in the latest period available), with the largest gender gaps in Spain, Greece, Türkiye, and Colombia.
By contrast, the unemployment rate for women and men was the same in Australia, Israel, and the United States, and the unemployment rate for men exceeded that of women in 15 OECD countries. The OECD unemployment rate was broadly stable for younger workers (aged 15-24) while standing 6.8 p.p. above the stable unemployment rate for workers aged 25 and above.
In the European Union and the euro area, unemployment rates remained stable at their record lows of 5.8% and 6.2%, respectively. The unemployment rate was stable in half of the 17 OECD euro area countries while it increased by 0.2 p.p. in both Finland, and Lithuania. It decreased in seven countries, with the largest declines recorded in Greece and Ireland; women aged 25 and above accounted for the largest share of this decline in Greece while men in the same age group accounted for the largest share in Ireland.
Outside the euro area OECD countries, unemployment rates were mainly stable or declined in January 2025, with Korea recording the largest decrease, following a rise in December. Korean women aged 25 and over accounted for the largest share of this decline. Sweden was the only country that recorded a sharp increase in unemployment by 1.1 p.p. in January, reaching the highest rate since August 1997, with men and women aged 25 and above accounting for the largest share of this rise.
Data for February 2025 showed unemployment rates in Canada and the United States remained broadly stable at 6.6% and 4.1%, respectively.
