The registered unemployment rate in the Vitebsk region in January-October was 0.7%.

On November 21, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The registered unemployment rate in the Vitebsk region as of November 1 was 0.7% of the economically active population, against the planned 1.2% for the end of the year. This was announced today by Irina Matveeva, First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, at a collegium meeting of the department on the results of work in January-October 2012, BELTA correspondent reports. All regions of the oblast did not exceed the established maximum permissible parameters for the unemployment rate. At the same time, the lowest unemployment rate is observed in the Verkhnedvinsk and Miory districts, and the highest in the Beshenkovichi district. During the implementation of the State Programme for Employment Promotion of the Population of Belarus for 2012, the labour market situation is constantly monitored in the region. It remains stable with the preservation of the main trends. Thus, according to the results of January-October, the region continues to see a decrease in the number of applications to the labour, employment and social protection departments of city and district executive committees (40.1 thousand people applied, which is 6.6% less compared to the same period in 2011). The number of registered unemployed (24.1 thousand people, a decrease of 6%) and unemployed on record is decreasing. "At the same time, employers' demand for workers is growing. As of November 1, the region's employment service had information on 7.3 thousand vacant jobs, which is 12.4% more than on the same date in 2011," noted Irina Matveeva. The structure of labour demand has not significantly changed. The labour market is still focused on blue-collar professions, which account for 84.6% of the total vacancies declared by employers. "Construction workers, drivers, fitters, and sales assistants are in steady demand. Among specialists, foremen, engineers of various profiles, and doctors are in demand. In rural areas, machine operators, tractor drivers, milking machine operators, livestock breeders, veterinarians, and zootechnicians are needed. Accountants, economists, and lawyers are least in demand in the labour market," stressed the First Deputy Chairperson.

For January-September 2012, the number of economically active population was 549.9 thousand people, a decrease of 540 people (0.1%) compared to the January-August level. "The main reason for the decrease in the economically active population is the reduction in the nominal number of employees of enterprises and organisations (by 2.4 thousand people compared to the August 2012 level). At the same time, by types of economic activity in September of the current year compared to August, the largest decrease in the nominal number of employees was observed in agriculture, hunting, forestry, hotels and restaurants, and manufacturing," noted Irina Matveeva. Special attention in the region is paid to assisting citizens who are unable to compete on equal terms in the labour market with employment. For January-October, about 4.8 thousand individuals in particular need of social protection were registered as unemployed. 2.7 thousand people were employed, including 1.3 thousand through quotas. In particular, 339 unemployed individuals returning from places of deprivation of liberty, 598 obligated individuals, 328 disabled persons, and over 520 young people under 21 seeking work for the first time were employed. During the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Khristoforov, urged all heads of the department's divisions present to approach the fulfilment of the established tasks responsibly and to pay the closest attention to the shortcomings in their work. "To successfully fulfil the forecast indicators of the programme by the end of 2012, it is necessary to intensify work in all areas of the measures of this document," he stressed.-0-

BELTA