Summary
The unemployment rate estimated for the 1st quarter of 2009 was 8.9%. This value is up 1.3 percentage points (p.p.) from the same quarter of 2008 and 1.1 p.p. from the previous quarter. The number of unemployed was estimated to reach 495.8 thousand individuals, having increased by 16.1% from the same quarter of the previous year, and by 13.3% from the previous quarter. The number of employed decreased by 1.8%, compared with the same quarter of 2008, and by 1.5%, compared with the previous quarter.