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Romanian Mar Jobless Rate Falls To 4.2% Vs 4.3% In Feb

Romania's unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2% in March from 4.3% in February, due to seasonal job openings in agriculture and constructions, the country’s employment agency said Thursday.
Romanian Mar Jobless Rate Falls To 4.2% Vs 4.3% In Feb
10 apr. 2008, 12:08, English

On the year, the country’s jobless rate was down 0.6 percentage points in March from 4.8% in March last year.

The number of unemployed totaled 374,050 in March, down from 379,898 in February, the agency said.

On a regional basis, the eastern county of Vaslui reported the highest unemployment rate of 9.5% in March, while Timis in southern Romania registered the lowest unemployment rate, at 1.3%.

In 2007, Romania’s unemployment rate hit a 16-year low at 4.3%, down from 5.4% in 2006, and is on a downward trend due to the ongoing labor crisis caused by a diminishing work force. An estimated two million Romanians are working abroad.

In March, Romanian Labor Minister Paul Pacuraru said Romania needs up to 100,000 workers to cover labor shortages, according to official employment data, contradicting figures released by the country’s finance minister.

In November last year, Economy and Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian said Romania needed about 500,000 workers, especially in construction, heavy industry and car manufacturing, to cover the country’s growing workforce deficit.