Altogether 42,776 persons, 6.5 percent of the workforce from age 16 to retirement age, were registered as out of work with the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund at the end of January.
Estonia's registered jobless rate climbs to 6.5 pct in January
11th February 2013, 14:40
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At the end of December registered unemployed numbered 39,670 making up 6.0 percent of the work force.
During January the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund registered 8,421 new jobless and 3,298 people either found work or started a business with the help of the fund.
Based on a comparison of data on unemployment insurance payments for different months it can be said that actually the number of people who moved into employment was even bigger, as not all people registered as unemployed inform the Unemployment Insurance Fund that they have found a job, the fund said.
Recipients of the unemployment insurance benefit numbered 10,266 in January, making up 22 percent of the registered jobless. The average benefit for a calendar month was 338 euros and the sum total disbursed was 3.1 million euros. The basic unemployment allowance of around 102 euros a month was paid to 9,069 persons, 19 percent of the total number of registered jobless.
The redundancy benefit was paid to 655 people and the average redundancy benefit awarded in January was 1,373 euros. The sum total paid out in redundancy benefits was more than 948,000 euros.
The rate of registered unemployment remained the highest in East-Viru County at 11.1 percent and Valga County at 11 percent. The lowest rates, 4.5 and 4.7 percent, were recorded in Tartu County and Viljandi County.