imageSOFIA: Bulgaria's jobless rate edged up to 10.7 percent in October from 10.5 percent in September mainly due to conclusion of employment programmes sponsored by the government and EU, the state employment agency said on Friday.

The number of registered unemployed in the Black Sea state of 7.3 million people increased by 6,060 to 351,445 from a month earlier, the agency said.

The agency, which calculates the jobless rate based on the number of officially registered unemployed, said 22,392 people found a new job in October.

The unemployment rate a year ago was 11.2 percent.

The jobless rate in the European Union's poorest country is forecast by the finance ministry to stay in double digits, as the economy struggles to recover from persistent deflation and declining foreign direct investment.

Economic growth is forecast to reach 1.5 percent this year, compared with 1.1 percent in 2013.

Copyright Reuters, 2014

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