The table compares the proportion of people unemployed in the total labour workforce across 9 nations between 1994 and 2004.
Overall, what stands out from the graph is that most countries experienced a downturn in unemployment rate, except for Poland, Germany, and Japan. Of equal note is that, Ireland recorded the highest share in 1994, while turned into the lowest in 2004, with the largest gap.
In terms of Ireland, its proportion of people unemployed in the total labour workforce was the highest in 1994, at 14.8%; after which it fell significantly to 4.4%, dropping by over 10 percentage points. A similar trend can be observed in the UK and Australia, the figures stood at 9.5% and 7.2% in 1994, respectively; followed by a dramatic decline to 4.7% for each. Italy, Canada and the USA revealed slight decreases from 1994 to 2004, ranging from 0.6 to nearly 3 percentage points.
Regarding Poland, 1994 witnessed a record of unemployment rate at 12.4%, then rose marginally to 19% in 2004, maintaining the highest rate. Similarly, Germany reported a slight growth from 7% to 9.4% of individuals unemployed in the total labour workforce. Notably, Japan remained the lowest share of unemployment rate in both years, climbing from 2.7% in 1994 to 4.5% 2004.
