According to the latest Eurostat data*, the unemployment rate in the US was equal to that in the EU-15 in March, and is now likely to be higher. Writing in the NY Times, Floyd Norris refers to the conventional wisdom that flexibility inherent in the American system — it is easier to both hire and fire workers than in many European countries implies that unemployment should be lower (at any given point in the business cycle) in the US than in Europe.
Standard & Poors have issued a Very Serious Warning to the UK, with regard to its AAA credit rating. I reach into the archives and pull out John’s excellent article on the general subject.