The line graph shows changes in the percentage of jobless people in the UK, the rest of Europe and Japan between 1993 and 2007. Overall, the UK and EU experienced a decline in their figures albeit to a varying degree with the latter dominating the graph during the most of the period despite these changes. By contrast, Japan generally saw its unemployment rate grow though the period between 2003 and 2007 witnessed a moderate drop.
Focusing on the decreases first, the proportion of people who were unemployed in the UK and EU started at roughly 11% and 9% respectively. While the figure for the former declined to 9% in 1997, that for the latter went up significantly, reaching just over the UK’s original figure. The joblessness rate in the EU kept declining to reach about 5% after a four-year period, and this was followed by a period of stability at this number until 2005. However, the figure increased modestly by 1 percentage point, finishing the period with 6%. The proportion of jobless people in the UK, by contrast, broke its rising trend and declined substantially by the end of period, reaching almost 8%.
Japan, on the other hand, bucked the trend. Starting at 2%, this figure being by far the lowest joblessness rate on the chart, the share of the Japanese who were out of work rose slightly in 1995, amounting to approximately 3%. Having leveled off at this figure until 1997, the unemployment level improved again, albeit at a more significant rate, doubling to 6% in 2003. However, this was followed by a notable decrease, ending the timeframe with 4%, still marking Japan as a country which recorded the lowest joblessness rate among the others.