Jobless exceeds 11,600

The number of unemployed persons between July and September 2005 was estimated to be 11,614, according to the National Statistics Office.

The unemployment rate stood at 7.3 per cent, according to the NSO's Labour Force Survey for the quarter under review. The unemployment rate for males was 6.5 per cent and that for females stood at 9.1 per cent.

Among the unemployed, 49.3 per cent had been looking for a job for over a year and 38.2 per cent had been looking for a job for under five months.

Unemployment in the same quarter in 2004 stood at 11,781.