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Russia’s unemployment rate nears 6% in April 2012 – statistics

An average age of the jobless people in Russia is 35.2 years in the period under review, the statistics said

MOSCOW, May 28 (Itar-Tass) —— The total number of jobless people in Russia counted under the standards of the International Labour Organisations (ILO) amounted to 4.4 million people as of the end of April 2012, the Russian State Statistics Service said in its regular report.

The unemployment rate, which is calculated as a ratio between the total number of jobless people and the total amount of a country’s able-bodied population (including the seasonal factor), made up to 5.8 percent in April 2012, as compared to 6.5 percent in the preceding month, the statistics said.

The total number of Russia’s able-bodied population, aged between 15 and 72 years, which embraces both categories – jobless and employed persons – amounted to 75.2 million people, or more than 53 percent of the country’s overall population, the report wrote.

Among the able-bodied population, 70.9 million people were involved in the country’s economic sector, while 4.4 million were jobless people registered under the ILO standards.

In April 2012, the employment level, which is calculated as a ratio between the total number of employed population to the total amount of the population aged between 15 and 72 years, reached 63.9 percent, the statistics reported.

In the period under review, the indicator went up by 1,064,000 people (1.5 percent) as compared to March 2012, the service wrote in its report, adding that the total number of unemployed Russians decreased by 502,000 people (10.3 percent).

In addition, the total number of Russia’s employed population grew by 1,143,000 people (1.6 percent) as compared to April 2011, while the total number of jobless population in the country decreased by 1,039,000 (or 19.2 percent), the document underlined.

In the designated period, Russia’s total ILO number of jobless people was 3.5 times more than the country’s official unemployment rate, the statistics said. As of the end of April 2012, the total number of officially registered unemployed persons in Russia amounted to 1,254,000 people, which was 4.5 percent smaller than in this year’s March, the Statistics Service said.

Under the survey, in April, 68 percent of those jobless were looking for work with the aid of their friends, relatives and others, exclusive the assistance of the official employment organisations, the report said, adding that the indicator was at 63 percent in 2011. Besides the share of men among such a category of jobless persons exceeded the share of women, the report wrote. The aid of friends and relatives is the most popular way to get a work.

Among the ILO unemployment people, the share of women amounted to 46 percent, and the share of urban population was at 62.5 percent, the report wrote. Besides, the unemployment rate among the rural population exceeded the urban indicator by 1.8 times in April.

An average age of the jobless people in Russia is 35.2 years in the period under review, the statistics said.