Australia vs United States: Sahm rule recession indicator — Recession signal
Sahm rule recession indicator — Recession signal over time
- Australia
- United States
How they compare
Australia currently reports 0 Unspecified against 0 Unspecified in United States, a difference of 0 Unspecified.
Across all 48 years both countries report, United States has been ahead every year.
Australia ranks 9th and United States ranks 9th of 30 countries.
United States has averaged higher in every one of the 6 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0 Unspecified | 0 Unspecified | 0 Unspecified | — |
| 1980s | 0.2 Unspecified | 0.4 Unspecified | 0.2 Unspecified | United States |
| 1990s | 0.2 Unspecified | 0.3 Unspecified | 0.1 Unspecified | United States |
| 2000s | 0 Unspecified | 0.5 Unspecified | 0.5 Unspecified | United States |
| 2010s | 0 Unspecified | 0.1 Unspecified | 0.1 Unspecified | United States |
| 2020s | 0.1429 Unspecified | 0.4286 Unspecified | 0.2857 Unspecified | United States |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher sahm rule recession indicator — recession signal, Australia or United States?
- Australia, at 0 Unspecified against 0 Unspecified in United States as of 2026.
- What is the difference in sahm rule recession indicator — recession signal between Australia and United States?
- 0 Unspecified, with Australia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and United States?
- 48 years are reported by both, from 1979 to 2026.
- How do Australia and United States rank globally for sahm rule recession indicator — recession signal?
- Australia ranks 9th and United States ranks 9th of 30 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Sahm rule recession indicator — Recession signal. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The Sahm rule is a simple recession indicator based on increases in the unemployment rate. Originally developed for the United States, it is triggered when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least 0.5 percentage points above its lowest level in the previous year. To assess its usefulness beyond the United States, the OECD has calculated the Sahm indicator for OECD countries using monthly unemployment rates from the OECD Labour Force Surveys and replaced the fixed U.S. threshold with country-specific thresholds. Under this approach, the indicator is triggered when the three-month average unemployment rate rises above its country-specific threshold relative to its lowest level in the previous year. For more information please refer to Can we predict recessions using only unemployment data? Applying the Sahm rule to OECD countries.