The role of shocks and institutions in the rise of European unemployment

Figure 5.1 shows the evolution of unemployment in Europe since 1960. The figure plots average unemployment rates over 5-year intervals, starting in 1960, both for the OECD-Europe as a whole (the line) and for 15 individual OECD-Europe countries. ¹ It shows the increase in the overall unemployment rate, from 1.7 percent in the early 1960s to 11.0 percent in the mid-1990s, together with the large dispersion in unemployment rates across countries, from 4.0 percent in Switzerland to more than 20 percent in Spain in the mid-1990s. Figure 5.1 Unemployment Rate, E15. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203329580/ae9653d4-2d0a-4000-a29c-3faaffe7a88b/content/fig5_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Note Line links average unemployment rate for the E15. Mnemonics are listed in Note 1.