If Canada’s unemployment rate worries you, be glad you’re not an HR manager in Mauritania – but which country has the least unemployed people?
Canada’s unemployment rate has been slowly decreasing since it peaked at 8.3% in 2009, and it’s now at 7% – just three percentage points higher than it was in 2005.
If that still sounds high to you, be glad you’re not trying to find a job in Mauritania or Bosnia and Herzegovina where the unemployment rate sits 30.8% and 28.7% respectively.
A low unemployment rate can make things tougher for HR, creating essentially a seller’s market where potential candidates have more options and can therefore be pickier about the salary and benefits they want. Hiring managers in Singapore might wish the unemployment rate was a bit higher than 3.1%, especially when they have skilled roles to fill.
Canada’s rate is comparable to the United Kingdom and the U.S., but the labour market still hasn’t bounced back to the levels seen in 2007 when unemployment was just 6% - closer to the rates currently seen in Australia and New Zealand.
| Country | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 [Projected] |
| Singapore | 2.9 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Japan | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4 |
| China | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
| Austria | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.9 |
| Germany | 5.9 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Australia | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| New Zealand | 6.5 | 6.9 | 6.4 | 6.1 |
| Canada | 7.4 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 7 |
| United Kingdom | 7.8 | 8 | 7.5 | 7.3 |
| United States | 9 | 8.2 | 7.5 | 7.2 |
| France | 9.2 | 9.9 | 10.5 | 10.9 |
| Ireland | 14.6 | 14.7 | 13.6 | 13.4 |
| Greece | 17.7 | 24.2 | 27.6 | 28.1 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 27.6 | 28.1 | 28.6 | 28.7 |
| Mauritania | 31 | 31 | 30.9 | 30.8 |