Registered unemployment in Bulgaria at the end of March 2009 was expected to be less than seven per cent, Labour and Social Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova told a news conference on March 29 2009, Bulgarian media reported.

Her ministry’s estimates were that unemployment was 6.5 per cent in January 2009 and 6.68 per cent in February.

European Union statistics office Eurostat put unemployment in the EU as ranging from 7.6 to 8.2 per cent.

Unemployment is increasing gradually and the growth rate is below the projections of the Labour and Social Policy Ministry, Maslarova said.

Because of the economic crisis, the Labour and Social Policy Ministry will provide information on its accomplishments under the Government's anti-crisis programme at the end of every month, she said.  

The peak of unemployment in Bulgaria in 2009 will be in May and June and the tendency is likely to persist to the end of the year, Krasen Yotov, an economist with Industry Watch, told Bulgarian news agency Focus.

The latest February data showed unemployment rising and this could not be attributed to traditional seasonal factors.

The reason was layoffs in the industry and construction sectors. Traditionally, however, the jobless rate drops in February, he said.

Yotov said that unemployment would increase more rapidly over the first half of the year and in the second half of the year, the number of jobless people would continue to go up, but at a lower rate.

Yotov said that some of companies preferred to retain their personnel and send them on unpaid leave or reduce the length of the working day and salaries.

However, this would not amount to a sustainable plan in the long term, he said.