The number of officially registered unemployed in Russia is less than 2.5 million, which is 300 thousand less than in December last year. This was announced to TASS in the press service of the Ministry of Labor on Tuesday, February 9.
The purpose of the department, on behalf of the President of Russia, is to return the labor market to the indicators of 2019 by the end of this year. The task is supposed to be solved with the help of employment of “another million citizens from among the unemployed”.
The press service said that in 2020, starting in August, the number of unemployed Russians decreased by 400 thousand people.
“According to Rosstat, the unemployment rate at the end of December was 5.9% (4.4 million citizens). If we talk about the number of unemployed registered in employment centers, then their number is now less than 2.5 million people. This is 300 thousand people less than in December last year, ”the ministry said.
By January 11, the number of unemployed in Russia was 2.77 million. According to the Ministry of Labor, over the past 3.5 months the number of officially registered unemployed Russians has decreased by almost 1 million people.
In early January, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the authorities’ most important tasks this year to restore the labor market and reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
The Russian leader at a meeting with the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov on February 4, in particular, inquired about the situation on the labor market. The minister noted that in order to restore employment, the authorities additionally support the affected industries, small and medium-sized businesses.
On the same day, Reshetnikov said on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel that the country’s authorities were preparing additional measures to reduce the unemployment rate, but did not specify which ones. He urged to wait for the President or Cabinet to announce them.