Data Bank Focus: The International Picture

A look at unemployment rates in various industrialized countries around the world underscores the magnitude of joblessness in the United States. Not only does the U.S. have the highest rate of unemployment among these countries, it also has the widest gaps between pre-recession unemployment and post-recession unemployment, at 3.8 percentage points. By sex, the employment situation is worst for men in the U.S., with a 10.5 percent rate of unemployment in 2010. U.S. women fare better, at 8.6 percent, but that is lower than the rates for women in only France and Italy.