According to the latest edition of the World Employment and Social Outlook compiled by the International Labour Organization (ILO), global unemployment in 2018 remains at a similar level to last year’s. Peaking at 5.9% in 2009, once the most acute phase of the financial crises was over, Germany’s unemployment rate rose slightly in March to 12 percent, the highest rate since the end of World War II.
The number of jobless people in the country fell by 40,000 in the month, to a total of 5.17 million, but the rate rose because of adjustments for seasonal variations in employment levels. 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.