The unemployment rate for the 34-member OECD area was stable at 8 percent in April, said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Tuesday.

The unemployment rate hit a new record high in the euro area, going up 0.1 percentage point to 12.2 percent in April, 1.3 percentage point above its mid-90's peak, according to the latest data release by the OECD.

However, the rate decreased in the United States by 0.1 percentage point to 7.5 percent and in South Korea by 0.1 percentage point to 3.1 percent.

Both Canada and Japan keep their unemployment rate stable at 7.2 percent and 4.1 percent respectively.

"Trends in unemployment rates across OECD countries have diverged significantly since the beginning of the economic and financial crisis," the OECD analyzed in its monthly report.

It noted that in May 2013, unemployment rates were significantly below the peaks reached in the second half of 2009 in Canada and the United States, by 1.6 and 2.4 percentage points lower, respectively.

In April, the unemployment rate in Japan was close to its pre-crisis level while, but it reached a new peak in several European countries, including France at 11.0 percent, Greece at 27 percent (in February, the latest month available), Italy at 12 percent, Portugal at 17.8 percent and Spain at 26.8 percent.

Overall, there were 48.5 million people unemployed in the OECD area in April 2013, 0.2 million more than in March and 13.7 million more than in July 2008, the OECD concluded.

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