Unemployment close to 12 percent

According to the Central Statistical Office; in the first quarter, unemployment continued to increase. The number of unemployed persons was 498 thousand, which means a 11.8 percent unemployment rate.

In the January-March period of 2010, the number of employees aged 15-64 was  an average of 3 million 688 thousand, 48 thousand people less than a year ago.
The number of unemployed people aged 15-74 was 498 thousand, 95 thousand people more than a year earlier. 45.4 percent of the unemployed, are looking for jobs for a year or more. The average duration of unemployment is 16.2 months, 0.5 months shorter, than in the January-March period of 2009.