PARIS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Monday said the unemployment rate in the 35-nation organization remained at 5.5 percent in January.

In the euro area, unemployment was stable at 8.6 percent over the period. On a country-to-country basis, the unemployment rate in Slovenia and the Netherlands, the best performers, fell to 5.9 percent and 4.2 percent respectively in January from 6.2 percent and 4.4 percent reported a month earlier.

By contrast, more jobless claims were recorded in Italy where the joblessness rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 11.1 percent.

However, the figures in Germany and France, Europe's main powerhouses, stood steady at 3.6 percent and 9.0 percent respectively, the Paris-based think-tank said.

The OECD reported that the unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 years was 11.4 percent in January, down by 0.2 percentage point. However, "it remains more than twice as large as that for other age categories."

Overall, there were 34.5 million people unemployed in the OECD area over the period, 1.9 million more than in April 2008 before the financial crisis, according to the report.