MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. The unemployment skyrocketed almost twofold in Russia to more than 1.4 mln people by mid-May, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Tuesday.

"The number of registered unemployed has increased as of the date we are speaking about — the date of transition to another stage — from 725,800 to 1,434 mln people. That is, it has almost doubled or increased by 97.6%," she said.

Since March 1, 2020, 1,654 mln Russian nationals applied to employment services either looking for a job or to receive a relevant allowance, Golikova added.

The situation is being monitored as regards systemic companies and all the businesses currently registered within the information system of the Russian Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the deputy prime minister noted. "We had this monitoring even before the crisis but we expanded its capacities in order to make it possible to analyze the developments in real time and suggest prompt measures in response to this situation," Golikova added.