[Sangetsu]

Government unemployment rate numbers are deceiving, and it's nearly impossible to get a good comparison between countries. America's unemployment numbers only include those who are receiving unemployment benefits, so the number is likely much higher, and many European countries count those who receive state unemployment benefits as "employed", which means their actual unemployment numbers are also much higher. I remember when Sweden posted an "official" unemployment rate of 8% a few years ago, but when unemployed workers who received state benefits were added to the figures, the actual unemployment rate turned out to be 27%.

In Japan the rate is about 4%. I'm not sure how the numbers are figured, but I would estimate it to be a very conservative number.