STANDARDIZED UNEMPLOYMENT

In the industrial nations, government statisticians often used varying methodologies for measuring unemployment levels. The resulting numbers sometimes distort the actual differences between countries. However, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development puts the numbers on a comparable basis. The latest complete statistics, mostly for August, show these unemployment rates, in percent:

United States 5.1

Canada 7.3

Japan 2.3

France 9.5

West Germany 5.5

Australia 5.9

Belgium 9.0

Spain 17.0

United Kingdom 8.9

Sweden 1.3

Italy 11.3