Table 13. Unemployment rates and the incidence of long-term unemployme
                  Unemployment rate (percentUnemployed for 12 months o
                  15 to 64 year45 to 64 year15 to 64 year45 to 64 year
United States               4.3          2.6          6.6          9.9
Japan                       4.9          4.0         20.8         25.5
Germany                     8.9         10.6         50.8         61.7
France                     12.1          8.5         38.6         58.3
Italy                      11.8          4.7         60.6         61.6
United Kingdom              6.2          4.6         29.7         43.4
Canada 1                    7.6          5.5         11.2         18.1
Australia                   7.0          4.6         29.3         47.0
Austria                     4.7          4.7         31.7         46.4
Belgium                     8.7          6.5         60.5         75.3
Czech Republic              8.7          6.0         36.0         43.9
Denmark                     5.2          4.4         20.2         33.4
Finland                    10.3          8.3         28.4         45.6
Greece 2                   11.0          4.8         54.4         56.4
Hungary                     7.0          4.4         49.3         58.0
Iceland                     1.9          1.2          9.0         13.0
Ireland                     5.9          5.1          ..           ..
Korea                       6.5          4.9          3.8          5.1
Luxembourg                  2.4          1.0         31.3         66.9
Mexico                      2.1          1.0          1.3          8.7
Netherlands                 3.6          2.6         37.7         58.5
New Zealand                 6.9          4.6         18.7         32.8
Norway                      3.2          1.3          6.8          9.1
Poland                     12.6          7.9         41.6         47.4
Portugal                    4.9          7.9         40.8          7.2
Spain                      15.9          9.8         49.9         60.4
Sweden                      7.1          5.5         30.1         47.1
Switzerland                 3.2          2.4         34.4         54.5
Turkey                      7.7          3.2         32.7         38.9
Unweighted averages:
North America 3             4.6          3.0          6.4         12.2
European Union              7.2          5.4         37.7         49.2
OECD Europe                 6.9          4.8         35.0         44.8
Total OECD                  6.7          4.6         30.8         40.7
1. For Canada, data refer to age groups 15 and over, and 45 and over.
2. Data refer to the year 1998.
3. North America comprises Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Source: OECD Unemployment Duration and Labour Force Databases.