NUMBER OF JOBLESS BULGARIANS REACHES 580K
The share of the economically inactive in Bulgaria remains among the biggest in Europe.
The economically active population in Bulgaria decreased 1.3 percentage points to 66.5% in the last quarter of 2009, year on year, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said.
The share of the economically inactive in Bulgaria remains among the biggest in Europe. A total of 1.708 million people (33.5%) in working age are not only jobless but do not even seek work.
The crisis increased the number of the discouraged people by nearly 70,000 to 220,700.
NSI's data reveal a much graver picture than shown by Employment Agency's statistics, which reported an unemployment rate of 9.9% in January, compared with an average of 10% in Europe.
However, if the number of the discouraged is added to the 360,000 registered jobless, the total number of the people outside the labour market in Bulgaria reaches 580,000.
