OECD unemployment rate touches 8.3% in May

Climbing for the fifth straight month, the unemployment rate in the OECD region -- a grouping of developed countries -- touched 8.3 per cent in May.

"The unemployment rate for the OECD area was 8.3 per cent in May 2009, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a statement today.

A majority of the nations in the elite club are in recession in the wake of the financial turmoil. As a result, many companies in these countries have resorted to layoffs as part of efforts to trim expenses.

The jobless rate, which touched 6.9 per cent in December 2008, has been on the rise since then. In April, the rate was 8 per cent.

In the euro area -- a grouping of 16 countries which share the common currency euro -- the unemployment rate stood at 9.5 per cent in May.

"For the United States, the unemployment rate for June 2009 was 9.5 per cent, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month and 3.9 percentage points higher than a year earlier," the statement noted.

In the case of Japan, the jobless rate in May stood at 5.2 per cent.