World unemployment rate keeps rising

13:44, 2 October 2009

PARIS. October 2. KAZINFORM Unemployment is rising around the world as the recession leaves few corners untouched - but sharp differences remain between companies directly hit by financial or housing-market collapses and those that have deliberately protected jobs with expensive measures - including subsidizing shorter working weeks, Kazinform cites China Daily.

Unemployment rates in the 30 wealthy countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development range from a low of 3.2 percent in the Netherlands to 17.6 percent in Spain, according to July figures.

In the developing world, the downturn has also taken its toll. Unemployment in Brazil appears now to be easing a bit, but Mexico in August posted its highest jobless rate in 13 years. In Africa, the continent's largest economy, South Africa, is in the grips of its first recession in 17 years and about a quarter of the population is officially without work.

The US unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in July, above the European Union rate of 8.8 percent. By August, the US unemployment rate had ticked up to 9.7 percent, a 26-year high. On Friday, the US Labor Department is due to release data for September and economists are forecasting the rate edged up to 9.8 percent. Most economists see US unemployment topping 10 percent by early next year.

The speed of the increase in unemployment rates also varies, with countries like France starting with relatively high unemployment and shifting only slightly upward, and Britain and Ireland starting low but rising fast, Kazinform refers to China Daily.

News World and Crisis World News