“There is always someone who has it worse” is sometimes a consolation when bad things happen to you. Here, we contrast the U.S. unemployment rate with the rates in Greece and Spain. There were certainly reasons to complain about the high unemployment rates in the U.S. during the past recession, but they pale in comparison with the experiences in Greece and Spain—even outside recessions. This disparity doesn’t come from differences in definitions of unemployment, either; this graph uses the harmonized unemployment rates from the OECD, which are designed specifically to make the rates comparable.

How this graph was created: Search for “harmonized unemployment rate,” then modify the tags in the side bar to restrict the choices. Select the countries you want and add the series to the graph (using the button at the top or bottom of the list). Finally, restrict the sample period to when data are available for Greece or Spain.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann