site.btaNovember Unemployment Edges Up 0.2 Per Cent from October, Stays under 7 Per Cent

Sofia, December 15 (BTA) - In November 2017, the level of unemployment registered by the National Employment Agency was 6.9 per cent, the Agency said in a press release on Friday.

The level edged 0.2 percentage points up from October but fell by a substantial 1 percentage point from November 2016.

The jobless total was 227,532 at the end of last month, slightly more than in October 2017 and 11.8 per cent fewer year on year. The newly registered unemployed in November numbered 33,333. Of them, 914 were neither studying nor seeking a job. A total of 11,448 persons have been activated by the mediators and their partners since the beginning of the year.

The number of job-seeking employees, students and pensioners registered during November was 567, which brought the total since January to 4,946.

As many as 17,028 found work in November, of whom a substantial 90.1 per cent were employed in the real economy. As a result of the implementation of active employment promotion measures, 1,682 people were included in subsidized employment, of whom 1,362 under schemes of Operational Programme Human Resource Development, 179 under programmes and 141 under measures.

One hundred and two unemployed were enrolled in training last month, and 276 completed training. Vocational guidance and activation measures covered 13,330 jobless persons.

Employers declared 12,040 job vacancies on the primary market, of which 77.1 per cent were in the private sector. In November, the occupations most in demand were shop assistants, other unskilled workers (general labourers), cleaning staff for hotels and institutions and domestic help, workers in the manufacturing industry and teachers.