The table compares the proportion of unemployed individuals in the workforce across nine different nations between 1994 and 2004.
Overall, a downward trend in unemployment was observed in the majority of the surveyed countries, whereas the opposite was true for Poland, Germany, Australia, and Japan. Additionally, Ireland recorded the highest unemployment rate in the initial year but became one of the lowest a decade later, while Poland experienced the highest rate overall by the end of the period.
Regarding the data in 1994, Ireland topped the list with 14.8% of its workforce out of work. The figures for Poland and Italy were also high, standing at 12.4% and 11.8%, respectively. In the middle tier, Canada and the UK showed moderate figures at 10.6% and 9.5%. By contrast, Japan registered the lowest unemployment rate at only 2.7%, while the rates for Australia, Germany, and the USA were slightly higher, ranging by 2.2%.
As for the changes in 2004, the unemployment rate in Ireland witnessed a sharp drop to 4.4%, and the UK saw its figure halved to 4.7%. Minor decreases were also recorded in Italy, Canada, and the USA, with their rates falling to 8.4%, 7.7%, and 5.4%. Conversely, Poland experienced a massive rise in joblessness to reach a peak of 19%, making it the country with the highest unemployment rate in 2004. Germany also saw an increase to 9.4%, while Japan and Australia underwent growth in their figures to 4.7% and 5.4%. Between the former and the latter of these two Asian-Pacific nations, Japan showed a more noticeable rise, while Australia remained relatively stable.