International Unemployment Rates and Employment Indexes, 

Seasonally Adjusted, 2009-2013 

Table of Contents

Highlights ................................................................ 1

CHART 1. Unemployment rates adjusted to U.S. 

concepts, 10 countries, seasonally adjusted, 

February 2012–June 2013 ...................................... 2

CHART 2. Unemployment rates unadjusted by BLS, 

10 European Union countries or areas, seasonally 

adjusted, February 2012–June 2013....................... 2

TABLE 1. Unemployment rates adjusted to U.S. 

concepts, 10 countries, seasonally adjusted .......... 3

TABLE 2. Unemployment rates unadjusted by BLS, 10 

European Union countries or areas, seasonally adjusted . 3

TABLE 3. Employment indexes adjusted to U.S. 

concepts, 10 countries, seasonally adjusted .......... 4

Technical notes....................................................... 5

Highlights

• Of the countries covered by the BLS 

unemployment comparisons program, the 

unemployment rate in June 2013 decreased for

Germany, Italy, and Japan, remained the same 

in the United States, and increased for

Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and 

Sweden. See Chart 1 and Table 1.

• The highest unemployment rates for June 2013 

were in Italy (12.2 percent) and France (10.7

percent), while the lowest rate for that month 

was in Japan (3.4 percent). 

• Of the EU countries not covered in the BLS 

comparisons but tracked by BLS, the 

unemployment rate in June 2013 decreased in

all countries except Belgium. See Chart 2 and 

Table 2. 

• Employment in June 2013 remained level in 

Canada, Germany, and Japan, rose in the 

United States, Australia, and Sweden, and 

declined in Italy and the Netherlands. See Table 

3.

Elimination of ILC 

BLS has eliminated the International Labor Comparisons (ILC) 

program. This is the last BLS release of international 

unemployment rates and employment indexes. 

The BLS is aware of other organizations that have obtained 

the methodology and intend to produce ILC indicators similar 

to those done previously by BLS. Please see the 

announcement at www.bls.gov/ilc. 

Contact Us

 

General information and data inquiries

ILCHelp@bls.gov

Last updated August 1, 2013 (updated monthly)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Division of International Labor Comparisons

www.bls.gov/ilc 
CHART 1. Unemployment rates adjusted to U.S. concepts, 10 countries, seasonally adjusted,

February 2012–June 2013 

 

NOTE: Latest available monthly data are shown for each country. See Table 1. 

CHART 2. Unemployment rates unadjusted by BLS, 10 European Union countries or areas, 

seasonally adjusted, February 2012–June 2013

NOTE: Latest available monthly data are shown for each country. See Table 2. 

0 

3 

6 

9 

12

15

18

21

24

27

United

States

Canada Australia Japan France Germany Italy Netherlands Sweden United

Kingdom

Percent

0 

3 

6 

9 

12

15

18

21

24

27

EU-27 Euro area Austria Belgium Denmark Finland Greece Ireland Portugal Spain

Percent

www.bls.gov/ilc Charts | 2 
TABLE 1. Unemployment rates adjusted to U.S. concepts, 10 countries, seasonally adjusted

(in percent)

2009 2010 2011 2012

Q2 

2012

Q4 

2012

Q1 

2013

Q2 

2013

Jun. 

2012

Apr. 

2013

May 

2013

Jun. 

2013

Change 

from 

May 

2013-

Jun. 

2013

United States 9.3 9.6 8.9 8.1 8.2 7.8 7.7 7.5 8.2 7.5 7.6 7.6 0.0

Australia 5.6 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.5 5.6 r 5.2 5.6 r 5.6 5.7 0.1

Canada 7.3 7.1 6.5 6.3 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.2 0.1

France 9.2 9.4 9.3 10.0 9.9 10.3 r 10.5 10.6 9.9 r 10.5 r 10.6 10.7 0.1

Germany (1) 7.8 7.1 5.9 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.6 5.5 -0.1

Italy 7.9 8.5 8.5 10.8 10.7 11.4 12.0 12.2 10.9 12.1 12.3 12.2 -0.1

Japan (2) 4.8 4.7 4.2 3.9 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.5 3.8 3.6 3.6 3.4 -0.2

Netherlands 3.7 4.5 4.5 5.3 5.2 5.7 6.2 6.7 5.2 6.5 6.7 6.9 0.2

Sweden 8.3 8.5 7.7 7.9 r 7.8 8.1 8.1 8.0 r 7.7 8.2 7.8 8.0 0.2

United Kingdom 7.6 7.9 8.1 8.0 8.1 7.8 7.9 8.1 7.8

(1) Quarterly and monthly data are calculated by applying 

adjustment factors to current administrative data and therefore are

less precise indicators of unemployment under U.S. concepts than 

the annual figures.

(2) Japan data from March 2011 through August 2011 are based on 

referential estimates from the Statistics Bureau of Japan that include 

areas affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake. 

r = revised

NOTE: See Technical notes for information on sources and methods.

Longer time series are provided in the Excel version at 

www.bls.gov/ilc/intl_unemployment_rates_monthly.xls. 

TABLE 2. Unemployment rates unadjusted by BLS, 10 European Union countries or areas, seasonally adjusted 

(in percent)

2009 2010 2011 2012

Q2 

2012

Q4 

2012

Q1 

2013

Q2 

2013

Jun. 

2012

Apr. 

2013

May 

2013

Jun. 

2013

Change 

from May 

2013-Jun. 

2013

EU-27 (1) 9.0 9.7 9.7 10.5 10.4 10.7 10.9 11.0 10.5 r 11.0 r 11.0 10.9 -0.1

Euro area (1) 9.6 10.1 10.2 11.4 11.3 11.8 12.0 12.1 11.4 r 12.1 12.1 12.1 0.0

Austria 4.8 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.6 4.9 4.5 4.8 4.7 4.6 -0.1

Belgium 7.9 8.3 7.2 7.6 7.6 8.0 8.3 8.6 7.7 r 8.6 8.6 8.7 0.1

Denmark 6.0 7.5 7.6 7.5 7.9 7.3 7.1 7.9 7.0 6.8

Finland 8.2 8.4 7.8 7.7 7.7 7.9 r 8.1 8.1 7.7 r 8.1 r 8.1 8.0 -0.1

Greece 9.5 12.6 17.7 24.3 23.9 26.1 26.6 24.7 26.9

Ireland 12.0 13.9 14.7 14.7 14.9 14.2 13.7 13.5 14.9 13.5 13.6 13.5 -0.1

Portugal 10.6 12.0 12.9 15.9 15.6 17.0 17.6 17.6 15.8 17.8 17.6 17.4 -0.2

Spain 18.0 20.1 21.7 25.0 24.7 26.1 r 26.4 26.4 r 25.1 r 26.5 r 26.4 26.3 -0.1

(1) The European Union-27 (EU-27) refers to the EU member 

countries as of January 1, 2007. The Euro area refers to the EU 

member countries that adopted the euro as a common currency.

See Technical notes. 

r = revised 

NOTE: These data are prepared by the Statistical Office of the 

European Communities (EUROSTAT). See Technical notes for 

information on sources and methods.

Longer time series are provided in the Excel version at 

www.bls.gov/ilc/intl_unemployment_rates_monthly.xls. 

www.bls.gov/ilc Tables | 3 
TABLE 3. Employment indexes adjusted to U.S. concepts, 10 countries, seasonally adjusted

Q2 2012 Q4 2012 Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Jun. 2012 Apr. 2013 May 2013 Jun. 2013

Change 

from May 

2013-Jun. 

2013

Q1 2007 = 100 January 2007 = 100

United States 97.3 98.1 98.1 98.4 97.5 98.3 98.5 98.7 0.2

Australia 110.2 110.6 111.3 111.6 110.5 111.9 111.9 112.0 0.1

Canada 105.1 105.9 106.2 106.5 105.4 106.4 106.9 106.9 0.0

France 101.0 102.0 101.8 101.7 (1) (1) (1) (1)

Germany 106.0 106.3 106.5 106.6 106.2 106.7 106.8 106.8 0.0

Italy 99.5 98.8 97.9 97.6 99.4 97.7 97.7 97.6 -0.1

Japan 97.8 98.0 98.3 98.4 98.3 98.7 98.8 98.8 0.0

Netherlands 103.0 103.3 102.8 102.4 103.4 102.9 102.7 102.6 -0.1

Sweden 103.3 103.6 103.8 104.1 103.5 103.7 103.8 103.9 0.1

United Kingdom 101.4 102.3 102.3 101.8 102.3

(1) Data are not published on a monthly basis. NOTE: See Technical notes for information on sources and methods.

Longer time series are provided in the Excel version at 

www.bls.gov/ilc/intl_unemployment_rates_monthly.xls. 

www.bls.gov/ilc Tables | 4 
Technical notes

Data adjusted to U.S. concepts

Data in tables 1 and 3 are on a civilian labor force basis and are from household surveys unless otherwise 

noted. Although the U.S. lower age limit is 16 years, the age limit for other countries varies from 15 to 16 

years. No adjustment is made for the treatment of layoffs. For some countries, no adjustment is made for the 

treatment of unpaid family workers, persons waiting to start a new job, and passive job seekers (for example, 

persons only reading newspaper ads as their method of job search). In the United States, job search must be 

"active," such as placing or answering advertisements, and simply reading ads is not enough to qualify as 

active search. These unadjusted differences have a negligible effect on the comparisons. For further 

information on comparability issues, see Constance Sorrentino, "International unemployment rates: how 

comparable are they?" Monthly Labor Review, June 2000, pp. 3-20, at 

www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/06/art1full.pdf. 

Employment indexes are calculated using employment levels underlying the unemployment rates and 

therefore are also from household surveys. Household surveys provide greater comparability of labor market 

trends across countries than establishment surveys, although both types of surveys are used to measure 

employment. In the United States, the establishment survey provides a highly reliable gauge of monthly 

change in nonfarm payroll employment while the household survey provides a broader picture of employment 

including agriculture and the self-employed. For details on the differences between the two U.S. surveys, see

www.bls.gov/web/ces_cps_trends.pdf. Note that trends shown in table 3 are for the number of persons in 

employment and not the number of jobs. 

For further qualifications on data adjusted to U.S. concepts and historical annual figures, see "International 

Comparisons of Annual Labor Force Statistics, Adjusted to U.S. Concepts, 16 countries" at 

www.bls.gov/ilc/flscomparelf.htm.

Unemployment rates unadjusted by BLS 

Data in table 2 are not adjusted by BLS to reflect U.S. concepts. They exclude conscripts but include career 

military living in private households. These data are prepared by the Statistical Office of the European 

Communities (EUROSTAT) according to the International Labor Office (ILO) definitions and are called 

harmonized unemployment rates. For details on methods and concepts, see "European Union labor force 

survey, methods and concepts, 2001," at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-BF-03-

002/EN/KS-BF-03-002-EN.PDF. Data are reproduced with permission from EUROSTAT.

The European Union-27 (EU-27) refers to EU member countries as of January 1, 2007. The EU-27 rate is the 

population-weighted average for the following 27 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech 

Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, 

Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the 

United Kingdom.

The Euro area refers to EU member countries that adopted the euro as a common currency. The composition 

of the euro area changes over time. As the euro area expands, data for new member countries are linked into 

this moving coverage series. Thus, the euro area rate changes its geographical coverage according to the 

composition of the euro area during the period to which the data refer. For January 2011 onward, the euro 

area rate is the population-weighted average for the following 17 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, 

Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, 

Slovenia, and Spain. 

www.bls.gov/ilc Technical Notes | 5