OECD area unemployment drops to 5.4% in December 2021

ANKARA

The unemployment rate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area decreased to 5.4% in December 2021.

The figure was down from 5.5% in November 2021 and 0.1 percentage point up from the pre-pandemic figure in February 2020, according to a statement from the OECD on Tuesday.

The number of unemployed people across the OECD area fell by 7,000, reaching 36.1 million, it said.

In December 2021, the unemployment rate was below the pre-pandemic level in Australia, Chile, France, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye, the statement said.

The unemployment rate for women was 5.6% in December, down from 5.7% in November, while the figure for men decreased from 5.3% to 5.2%.

In the euro area, the unemployment rate also declined for the eighth month in a row in December to 7.0%, from 7.1% in November.