LJUBLJANA: The number of jobless people in Slovenia rose in January although the number of jobs vacancies was up as well, as the country struggled to overcome a possible new recession.
The number of people out of work reached 115,965, up 2.8 percent compared to December and 0.7 percent higher than in January 2011, the national Employment Service said on Monday.
Jobless rate will be revealed by the statistics office in March but reached 11.9 percent in November when there were 111,069 unemployed.
The service said the number of new jobs available rose by 14.7 percent in January compared to December, up for the first time in four months, and was 3 percent higher than in January 2011.
Slovenia's export-oriented economy recovered modestly in 2010 after a sharp slump in 2009 when it contracted 8 percent. Latest data showed another recession was possible as the economy contracted by 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011.
According to the Interior Ministry the number of people who moved from Slovenia over the past few years amid economic slowdown and rising unemployment rose sharply to reach 3,889 people in 2011, which is almost twice as much as in 2009.
The government's macroeconomic institute expects the unemployment to continue rising until 2013 and sees a mild economic growth of 0.2 percent in 2012 versus a growth of some 0.5 percent in 2011.
Parliament is on Friday expected to elect a new centre-right government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa, more than two months after an inconclusive snap general election on Dec. 4.
Jansa pledges to give a boost to the economy and create new jobs by reducing some key taxes, cutting red tape, easing the credit crunch and speeding up privatisation.
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