Compare U.S. unemployment to these countries

 Canada's economy continues to outshine other advanced countries as the unemployment rate unexpectedly dipped below 8 percent for the first time in a year and half. Statistics Canada said Friday the country added a higher-than-expected 93,000 jobs in June and said the unemployment rate dropped to 7.9 percent. Economists had expected a more modest 15,000 to 20,000 job increase and that the rate would remain at 8.1 percent. It's the second biggest gain ever recorded by the agency in terms of the number of jobs and comes after Canada added a record 108,700 jobs in April and 24,700 in May. The government said the new jobs were evenly split between full-time and part-time positions. In less than a year Canada has made up nearly all the jobs lost during the recession. "We've replaced those jobs already. It is quite something how we are rebounding," said Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank. Desjardins said low interest rates, a stable banking system and the government's comparative strong fiscal position has spurred the recovery. Although its deficit is currently at a record high, the International Monetary Fund expects Canada to be the only one of the seven major industrialized democracies to return to surplus by 2015.

Australia's unemployment rate remained at 5.1% in June, the Bureau of Statistics said Thursday, beating forecasts as full-time employment rose for a 10th straight month. Economists had expected on average a tick upward in the unemployment rate to 5.2%, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The number of full-time workers rose 18,400 to 7.795 million, the bureau said, while the labor participation rate edged up to 65.2% from 65.1% in May.

Japan’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a 10-month low in January as the economy added the most jobs in more than 30 years.  The jobless rate dropped to 4.9 percent from a revised 5.2 percent in December, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. The median forecast of 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for the rate to be unchanged from a preliminary 5.1 percent.

China:The unemployment rate in China was 4.20 percent in March of 2010. The labour force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The nonlabour force includes those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalised and those serving in the military. During the economic fallout, China's unemployment rate never ROSE ABOVE 4.3%.

Brazil’s unemployment rate was higher than economists expected in May even as officials said Latin America’s biggest economy is showing signs of labor shortages in some industries.

Unemployment rose to 7.5 percent in May, the national statistics office said today in Rio de Janeiro. The figure was higher than the median estimate of 7.1 percent in a survey of 31 economists by Bloomberg. Unemployment was 7.3 percent in April.

Germany: The number of Germans registered as unemployed in June dropped by 88,000 from the previous month, according to the German Federal Labor Office. Compared to the same month last year 257,000 more people are now employed. Unemployment in Europe's biggest economy now stands at 7.5 percent, the lowest level since December 2008. "The positive trend that we've seen on the labor market in the last months has continued in June," said Frank-Juergen Weise, chief of the labor office. "The crucial indicators have yet again improved." Stripped of seasonal effects skewing the figures, the number of unemployed fell by 21,000, the labor office said. In total, 3.153 million people are out of work.

England: June 16 2010 - The unemployment rate stands at 7.9% - up 0.1% over the quarter and 0.6% over the year. 28.86 million people were in work in the period February to April according to the labour force survey (LFS). The number of people employed was up by 5,000 this quarter but down by 213,000 from last year. The working age employment rate is 72.1% - down by 0.1% on the last quarter and 1.2% on last year.

Russia:  June 2, 2010 The number of employed people in Russia has increased by more than 1 million since the beginning of the year, Vice Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said during the labor market talks in Saratov on Wednesday. Mr. Zhukov noted that the current unemployment rate in Russia stands at 8%. ‘Another positive sign is that number of people working part-time is decreasing’, he added.   The unemployment rate in Russia was 7.30 percent in May of 2010.