The employment rate across the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) area held steady at 65 percent in the third quarter of 2012, said an OECD report released Tuesday.

The new study made by the 34-member OECD showed that the employment rate is 1.5 percentage points below the pre-crisis level, while 0.2 percentage points higher than one year ago.

In the euro area, the employment rate was stable at 63.8 percent, which is 0.4 percentage points lower than the rate one year ago.

The employment rate remained unchanged in the United States at 67.1 percent in the third quarter last year, after having increased for four consecutive quarters. It rose in Japan by 0.3 percentage points to 70.7 percent after two quarters of stability.

In contrast, the employment rate for Canada fell by 0.2 percentage points to 72.1 percent after two consecutive quarterly increases.

In addition, the OECD reports found large disparities in employment rates of man and women, which stood at 73.1 percent and 57.1 percent respectively.

"Since the second quarter of 2008, the OECD employment rate has fallen by 2.6 percentage points for men and by only 0.5 percentage points for women, " the OECD said in the report.

"While this partly reflects larger increases in male unemployment, the main difference comes from divergences in labor force participation rates, which, over the period, fell by 0.7 percentage points for men but rose by 0.9 percentage points for women," it added.

The report pointed out that adverse economic conditions tend to reduce labor force participation, as discouraged job seekers may withdraw from the labor market and, in the case of youths, postpone entry into the labor market.

"This effect has been pronounced among men, who were most severely hit by unemployment at the beginning of the crisis," the organization concluded.

Established in 1961, the Paris-based OECD provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems.