A total of 1474 work permits have been issued to foreign nationals residing in Bulgaria over the first nine months of 2008, the Government's Employment Agency said on its website on November 10 2008. For the same period, a total of 178 foreign nationals have been appointed on short-term contracts in the country.

In the first nine months of this year, Bulgaria has received requests from 19 European countries for 2469 work places through the EURES (European Employment Services) database system. A total of 7407 Bulgarians have found work in Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland.

Bulgarians and Romanians still have some limitations when working in EU countries. Despite the fact that the two countries became full-scale EU members in 2007, some EU states still have restrictions on opening their labour market to Bulgarians and Romanians, Britain being one such country.

Currently, London has a ban on UK companies hiring Bulgarians and Romanians, with the exception of seasonal workers in agriculture, university students and the so-called free professions. This ban expires in December 2008.

Reports in the British media, backed by statements by government officials, however, suggest that this ban might be extended as a way for the UK to protect its own workforce in the light of the global financial crisis and the shortage of job vacancies.

In other news, unemployment in Bulgaria for the first nine months of the year went down to 6.42 per cent on average a month, the agency said, which was lower than the average rate for the EU.

Employment bureaus have registered a total of 116 300 free job positions that have not been subsidised by the state. Close to 89 000 people have started work.