Unemployment over 1 mil. for second month in a row

The number of unemployed remained over the one million level in March for the second consecutive month, government officials said Monday.

According to statistics compiled by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the unemployment rate stood at 4.8 percent for March with the number of jobless standing at 1,035,000.

This marks a slight drop from the 5.0 percent unemployment rate and 1,069,000 jobless in February.

The NSO statistics also put the unemployment rate for the first quarter of this year at 4.8 percent and the jobless figure at 1,029,000.

Officials said that the unemployment rate for March declined slightly from February, but it still posed a serious problem as it hovered over the one million level. Also worrisome was that the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate, which had marked falls compared with the same months of previous years since May 1999, had reversed course and turned upward last month, they said.

An official of the Ministry of Finance and Economy predicted that the jobless rate for April would be somewhat lower as the business survey index (BSI) was improving and the start of the farming season was at hand.

``But I cannot say for sure whether or not unemployment will dip below one million,`` he said.