I'm not even sure these numbers are comparable. Who is gathering and reporting the statistics? Are they all using the exact same criteria and methodology? Unemployment is one of the most politically-charged statistics you can find. I'd be shocked if all these countries reported it accurately.
They are not comparable, nor is the current rate in the US with historic data since the definitions have changed multiple times. It is very much the same with comparing infant mortality since several EU countries count it very differently than the US.
A fair point, but is there an underlying reason (beyond having the Euro) why those economies are weak?
The point I was trying to make was an economic one - if it is easier to fire a mistake (either for perfomance or business-reasons), then it makes you more likely to hire people.
> The point I was trying to make was an economic one - if it is easier to fire a mistake (either for perfomance or business-reasons), then it makes you more likely to hire people.
Given the data you have no argument here. In germany it's fairly hard to fire someone who's out of probation. Still, we have a lower unemployment rate than the US.
US: 7.3%
Strong economies in europe:
UK: 7.5%
Germany: 5.2%
Denmark: 6.7%
Norway: 3.1%
Weak economies in europe:
Greece 27.3%
Spain 26.7%
Italy: 12.5%
You can't average countries with completely different governments and economies to produce a regional figure, just like an average of the US' and Mexico's (4.25%) would be equally meaningless.