Estonia unemployment rate falls to 9.3pc in Q4

TALLINN: Unemployment in euro zone member Estonia eased further in the fourth quarter of the 2012 to 9.3 percent, down from 9.7 percent in the year's third quarter, the statistics office said on Thursday.

According to recent flash estimate data, growth in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) was 3.7 in the fourth quarter year-on-year as domestic demand supported growth.

For the full year of 2012 the unemployment rate was 10.2 percent, the lowest rate for four years, and compares to 12.5 percent in 2011.

The office added that the number of unemployed persons decreased to 64,000 in the fourth quarter from 68,000 in the third quarter of last year.

The estimated number of employed persons was 625,000, which is 10,000, or 1.7 percent, more than in the same period a year earlier.