Russia's unemployment rate up 7%

Russia's official unemployment rate increased by seven per cent since the beginning of 2016, the country's ministry of labour and social protection said.

"From January 12, 2016 to March 23, 2016, there is an increase in the number of unemployed citizens registered in employment agencies, by 69,900 people (or seven per cent)," Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying in a statement.

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The employment situation has improved compared with the same period in 2015, when the unemployment rate grew 12 per cent.

 

The ministry of economic development has predicted, based on the oil price of $50 per barrel, that Russia's unemployment rate in 2016 will be 5.8 per cent.