The table depicts the rate of unemployment residents in the total labour force from over nine countries between 1994 to 2004.
Overall, most countries saw a decrease in unemployment over the ten-year period, with Ireland showing the most significant improvement. In contrast, Poland, Germany, Australia, and Japan experienced an upward trend, with Poland having the highest rate by 2004.
In 1994, Ireland had the highest unemployment rate at 14.8%. However, this figure plummeted to only 4.4% by 2004. Similarly, the figure for the UK decreased by nearly a half, from 9.5% to 4.7%. Italy also recorded a reduction in joblessness, with the percentage falling from 11.8% to 8.4%. Both the USA and Canada remained a similar downward trend, The rate in the USA dropped from 7.2% to 5.4%, while Canada’s figure decreased from 10.6% to 7.7% over the ten-year period.
In contrast, Poland saw a dramatic decrease from 12.4% to 19%, becoming the highest in 2004. Germany’s rate also grew from 7% to 9.4%. Meanwhile, Australia and Japan experienced slight increases to 5.4% and 4.7%. Despite this rise, Japan maintained the lowest unemployment rate in both years.