Unemployment edges lower

The number of unemployed persons registered at the District Labour Offices on the last day of October 2005, decreased by 854 compared with September 2005 and reached 10.695 persons or 3,0 % of the labour force, the Statistics Department reported.

The decrease of the unemployed persons from the previous month was mainly recorded in the sectors of education, public administration as well as to newcomers in the labour market.

In comparison with October 2004 an increase of 532 unemployed persons was recorded which was mainly observed in the sectors of construction and trade.

It should be noted that the unemployment rate for September 2005 published by EUROSTAT (6,4%) concerns seasonally adjusted figures that were estimated based on the increase on the number of unemployed persons in the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same quarter of 2004, which in actual numbers increased from 4,3% to 5,4% in the second quarter of 2005 as showed by the household Labour Force Survey.