Estonia's unemployment rate declined further in the fourth quarter of 2010 as the economy expanded robustly led by manufacturing and exports, data from the Labor Force Survey compiled by Statistics Estonia showed Monday.
The number of jobless people in the country declined to 93,000 from the previous quarter, representing 13.6% of the labor force. The unemployment total in the third quarter was 106,000 and the jobless rate was 15.5%.
The unemployment rate has been continuously falling since the first quarter of 2010, when it reached record 137,000. The total figure dropped below 100,000 for the first time in one and a half years, the agency said.
"In the second and third quarters of 2010, the unemployment decreased mainly due to the decreasing number of persons who had been unemployed less than a year, but in the fourth quarter the long-term unemployment decreased remarkably," the statistical office said.
The long-term unemployed figure, which refers to the number of jobless persons who had been looking for job for one year or more, dropped by 10,000 from the third quarter. The share of long-term unemployed declined to 49% from 53%.
More Estonians had jobs during the fourth quarter thanks to a rebound in the manufacturing sector. The number of employed increased 2.5% or by 15,000 quarter-over-quarter to 593,000.
Estonia's economy grew 6.6% in the fourth quarter, which was the fastest rise since the second quarter of 2007, helped by robust industrial activity and exports ahead of the nation's entry into euro area, data showed last week. In 2010, the GDP grew 3.1% annually, after a massive 13.9% contraction in the previous year.
However, the annual average jobless rate for 2010 increased to 16.9% from 13.8% in the previous year. The annual average number of unemployed persons rose to 116,000 from 95,000. The figure was the largest since the restoration of independence in Estonia. Meanwhile, the average number of employed persons dropped 4.2% or by 25,000 to 571,000.
The Baltic states, comprising Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, are witnessing a recovery led by manufacturing and external demand. The Estonian economy is likely to grow 3.6% this year fueled by a surge in exports, the International Monetary Fund forecast earlier this month.
The key challenges for the country, which is the newest member of Eurozone, are maintaining growth and reducing high unemployment, the organization said. Continued progress in job creation will be hampered due to a lack of skilled workers in growing sectors, the IMF said. The jobless rate is forecast to fall to 15.7% this year.
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