site.btaEmployment Agency Reports Nearly 9% Unemployment in April

Sofia, May 15 (BTA) - The level of registered unemployment in
the country in April was 8.9 per cent, according to the
administrative statistics of the Employment Agency released here
 on Friday.

A month-on-month comparison shows an increase of 2.2 percentage
points, while the year-on-year the increase is by 3.3 percentage
 points - from 5.6 per cent at the end of April 2019 to 8.9 per
cent this year.

The total number of unemployed persons registered at the labour
offices in April was 292,810, compared to March there were
72,738 more registered, which is an increase of 33.1 per cent.

The number of newly registered unemployed persons in April was
87,063, with 58,774 of them (67.5 per cent) stating that they
had lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19. The sectoral
distribution of those who lost their jobs during the month shows
 that the crisis affected three sectors the most: hotels and
restaurants (37.1 per cent of the newly registered unemployed in
 April), followed by trade (18.6 per cent) and manufacturing (15
 per cent). The culture, sports and entertainment sector
generated only 3 per cent of the newly registered unemployed
persons during the month.

The number of jobs advertised on the primary labour market in
April was 10,228, 79.5 per cent of which were in the private
sector.

The number of unemployed persons who found work in April was
12,953, according to Employment Agency's data.

Despite the restrictions imposed by the state of emergency,
10,560 unemployed people entered the primary job market, 7,384
of which through the Employment Agency. A total of 2,393
unemployed persons have been employed at subsidized jobs under
measures, programs and schemes of the Human Resources
Development Operational Programme. NV/DT