On August 13, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The unemployment rate in the Vitebsk region as of August 1 was 0.7%. Preliminary data on the labour market situation in the region were reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. The labour market of the Vitebsk region in January-July was characterised by the preservation of key trends: a decrease in the number of applications; the number of registered unemployed; a reduction in the number of registered unemployed, as well as an increase in employers' demand for workers, the committee noted. Thus, as of August 1 this year, there were about 7.3 thousand job vacancies in the region, and 4.1 thousand unemployed people were registered as of this date. At the same time, the number of registered unemployed in the region is decreasing: as of August 1, there were less than 4.1 thousand people (a year ago there were 4.3 thousand). In the structure of labour demand, blue-collar professions continue to prevail, accounting for 85% of the total number of vacancies. The largest number of job offers is related to the search for drivers, construction workers of various profiles, machine operators, livestock breeders, and machine operators. Employers also need the services of sales assistants, nurses, shoe assemblers, engineers, and seamstresses. Among the registered unemployed, women accounted for 49.4%, which is 1.6% less compared to the corresponding period last year. In total, in January-July of the current year, 28.1 thousand people applied to the labour, employment and social protection authorities of the region for assistance in employment. 20.1 thousand citizens were employed in permanent jobs during this period, including 12 thousand unemployed. Assistance in employment was provided to 1.3 thousand residents of the region (including 950 unemployed) who are particularly in need of social protection (orphans, disabled people, first-time job seekers under 21 years of age, released from places of detention). For 24 unemployed disabled people, adaptation to work activities was organised, and 5 jobs were created. About 300 unemployed people in the past period received subsidies to organise entrepreneurial activities from the Social Protection Fund. 61 families of unemployed people were provided with financial assistance and reimbursed for expenses related to relocation to a new place of residence and work.