Unemployment rates, by selected countries

Canada's unemployment rate ranks in the middle

• Canada's unemployment rate was in the middle of the pack in 2003: France, Germany and Italy had the highest rates and the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Japan posted the lowest. Over the period 1996 to 2003, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Italy and France saw the largest decreases in unemployment rates, ranging from 3 to 4 percentage points. The Netherlands, Australia and Canada saw declines of 2 percentage points.
• Japan, the United States and Germany were the only countries that had increases in unemployment rates from 1996 to 2003. The bulk of the increase in the U.S. unemployment rate took place from 2000 to 2003, when it rose from 4.0% to 6.0%. Germany's rate also increased during this period, from 7.8% in 2000 to 9.3% in 2003.
• Japan's unemployment rate rose steadily from the early 1990s onward—by 2002, it reached a record 5.4%. However, the rate may be levelling off, as it slipped to 5.3% in 2003, the first decline since 1992.

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