site.btaFebruary 2016 Unemployment at 10%

February 2016 Unemployment at 10%

Sofia, March 15 (BTA) - Unemployment in Bulgaria in February 2016 was 10 per cent, decreasing by 0.2 percentage points compared with January 2016 and falling by 1 point compared with February 2015, the Employment Agency reported on Tuesday.

In February 2016 there were 329,610 unemployed people registered at job centres, down by 4,960 compared with January 2016 and down by 31,566 compared with February 2015.

A total of 23,561 people found jobs in February 2016, increasing by 4,716 compared with the previous month. A growing number of people found jobs either on the primary market or under Operational Programme "Human Resources Development."

A total of 17,317 unemployed people found employment on the primary market, up by 3,618, month on month, and up by 3,420, year on year. Another 6,244 people received subsidized jobs, increasing by 1,098, month on month, and by 3,135, year on year.

Employment programmes financed by the state budget provided jobs to 817 people in February 2016. Encouragement measures pursuant to the Employment Promotion Act gave employment to 32 people. Operational Programme "Human Resources Development" provided jobs to 5,395 people (3,240 more than a month earlier and 2,638 more than a year earlier).

Demand for labour in the real economy rose in February 2016 for the second straight month. There were 15,152 job vacancies on the primary labour market announced at job centres, increasing by 3,911 compared with January 2016. Some 70.6 per cent of them were in the private sector (up by 6.4 percentage points).

The largest number of vacancies on the primary market were in the manufacturing industry (4,289), followed by the hotel and restaurant business (2,077), trade (1,978), public administration (1,237), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (1,097), administrative and auxiliary services (960), transport, logistics and postal services (674), construction (572) and education (375).

Seasonal jobs were on the rise. In February 2016 compared with January 2016, the largest increases were recorded in the hotel and restaurant business (+1,500 vacancies), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (+650), trade (+512) and the manufacturing industry (+466).

There were 379 job vacancies under employment programmes and 2,883 vacancies under Operational Programme "Human Resources Development."