Ranks of the Unemployed Increasing

The number of the jobless is increasing.
According to 'Employment Trends in January' released by the National Statistical Office(NSO) on February 26, the unemployment rate in January rose by 0.6 percent from the previous month to 8.5 percent, adding 97,000 to the ranks of the unemployed. The number of unemployed workers in January was 1.762 million.
This is the highest level in 33 years, since the first quarter of 1966.
The number of unemployed workers has increased by 1.31 million persons in the past 15 months. Before the foreign exchange crisis in October 1997, only 452,000 people were unemployed.
Some experts are estimating that the unemployment rate will surpass 9 percent in February and the number of jobless will approach two million.