The OECD unemployment rate remained stable at 4.9% in April 2025, having been at or below 5.0% for the past 3 years (Figure 1 and Table 1). The number of unemployed persons in the OECD also showed little change, totalling 34.4 million in April (Table 2). Compared with March 2025, unemployment rates in April were unchanged in 22 OECD countries, declined in 7, and rose in 4, including Canada and Türkiye. Colombia, Italy and the Slovak Republic were the only OECD countries to record monthly unemployment rates near their record lows. By contrast, the unemployment rate was at least 2.0 percentage points (p.p.) above its record low in 10 OECD countries with the largest gaps observed in Finland, Denmark, Estonia, and Luxembourg (Figure 2 and Table 1). The OECD unemployment rates for women and men remained broadly stable in April 2025, at 5.1% and 4.8%, respectively (Table 3).
In April 2025, the OECD unemployment rate for younger workers (aged 15-24) held steady at 11.2%, significantly higher – by 7.1 p.p. – than the similarly stable rate for workers aged 25 and over. The youth unemployment rate exceeded that of workers aged 25 and over in the European Union, the euro area, and in all OECD countries in April 2025 (or in the latest period available). Japan and Israel recorded the smallest gap, both under 2 p.p., while the largest differences, exceeding 15 p.p., were recorded in Sweden, Luxembourg, Spain and Costa Rica (Figure 3). The gap between young workers and those aged 25 and over remained stable in the OECD, the European Union and 6 OECD countries in April 2025, compared with March 2025. It narrowed in 15 OECD countries, including France, and in the euro area. In contrast, the gap widened in 8 countries, including Canada and the United States, where youth unemployment rose (Table 4).
In the European Union and the euro area, unemployment rates in April 2025 remained largely unchanged at 5.9% and 6.2%, respectively. Just under two thirds of the 17 OECD euro area countries saw stable unemployment rates in April 2025, while 5 countries recorded a decrease. Men aged 25 and over contributed the most to the unemployment decline in Greece, whereas women aged 25 and over accounted for most of the decrease in Finland and France. Conversely, women aged 25 and over drove an increase in the unemployment rate in Austria (Table 1 and Figure 4).
In April 2025, the unemployment rate was stable in a majority of OECD countries outside the euro area. It declined in Colombia, which recorded the largest decrease, and Korea. By contrast, the unemployment rate increased in Canada, Sweden and Türkiye. Driven by workers aged 25 and over, the sharp increase of 0.6 p.p. in Türkiye followed a record low in the previous month (Figure 4 and Table 1). In May 2025, the unemployment rate remained broadly stable in Canada at 7.0% and in the United States at 4.2%.
Source: OECD
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