What is the national unemployment rate in Canada?

The United States has a higher unemployment rate than Canada at this time.

For several decades Canada typically had reported its unemployment rate as somewhat higher than the US rate. For example, in June 2008 the reported unemployment in the US was 5.5 percent and 6.1% in Canada. However, a closer examination reveals that the two countries measure the unemployment rate differently. Craig RidDELL, a University of British Columbia economist, found that a 0.9% difference was caused by the differing measurement systems.

Statistics Canada has also acknowledged this, and it now publishes a second unemployment rate using the same methodology as the Americans. Using the American methodology, the June 2008 Canadian unemployment rate was 5.3%, which was 0.2% lower than the American rate.

As of February 2012, Canada's national unemployment rate stood at 7.4% while America's was 9.1%.