>somewhere (can't remember) I read that the main difference between
>US and EU statistics is that in the US the ask you if you have
>worked more than x hours durint the the last two weeks while in the
>EU the period shrinks to just one week and the amount of hours
>worked is larger (say y>x). the consequence of that is that you may
>be coparing unemployment rates that mean essentially different
>things. IOW, you may expect EU's rates to be higher than US
>rates.... Maybe someone more used to collect statistics on
>unemployment could correct me if I am wrong
The EU standard is at <http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/Public/datashop/print-product/EN?catalogue=Eurostat&product=3-03042001-EN-AP-EN&mode=download>.
The OECD's standardized, I mean standardised, unemployment rates are at <http://www.oecd.org/EN/document/0,,EN-document-20-nodirectorate-no-12-26059-20,FF.html>.
The U.S. BLS's foreign labor stats are at <http://www.bls.gov/fls/home.htm>.
Doug