OECD unemployment rate remains stable at 5.0% in January

In January 2026, the OECD unemployment rate held steady at 5.0%, a level it has maintained since April 2022.

Compared to December 2025, unemployment remained stable in most OECD countries with available data, with 18 out of 33 countries reporting no change.

While the rate decreased in 11 countries, it increased in Colombia, Denmark, Norway, and Türkiye. Notably, Japan, Korea, and Mexico reported unemployment rates of 3.0% or below.

Finland was the only OECD country to report a double-digit unemployment rate, while Spain’s unemployment rate fell below 10% for the first time since March 2008.

The total number of unemployed individuals in the OECD slightly declined from December 2025, reaching 34.9 million, but was half a million higher than in January 2025.

In January 2026, unemployment rates for women and men remained relatively stable, at 5.1% and 4.8%, respectively. In the European Union, the euro area, and 19 OECD countries, the unemployment rate for women was higher than that for men, with the largest gender gaps (3.7 percentage points or more) observed in Colombia, Greece, and Türkiye. Additionally, the age gap in unemployment within the OECD decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 6.9 percentage points, primarily due to a decline in youth unemployment (ages 15-24).

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Both the European Union (5.9%) and the euro area (6.1%) maintained broadly stable unemployment rates in January 2026, matching their record lows. Unemployment rates were stable in nine OECD euro area countries, while rates decreased in eight others, including Italy, where the rate reached its lowest level (5.1%) since this series began in 2004.

The decline in unemployment rates in Austria and Finland was largely due to a decrease in unemployment among women aged 25 and over, whereas in Estonia and Greece, it was driven by a decline among men aged 25 and over.

Outside the euro area, unemployment rates remained stable in January 2026 for the nine OECD countries with available data. However, Denmark experienced the largest month-on-month increase, reaching 7.4%, its highest level since January 2004, primarily due to a 2.6 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate for women. Conversely, Canada, Korea, and Sweden recorded decreases in their unemployment rates, largely attributed to a decline in unemployment among men aged 25 and over in both Canada and Korea.

A preliminary estimate for February 2026 indicates that the unemployment rate in the United States remained broadly stable at 4.4%.