imageSOFIA: Bulgaria's jobless rate edged down to 11.0 percent in February from 11.1 percent a month earlier, the state employment agency said on Tuesday, as Europe's poorest economy battles to generate growth.

The agency said 361,176 people were unemployed in the Balkan country of 7.3 million people in February, 2,788 fewer than in the first month of the year, mainly due to seasonal factors.

The figure was lower than in February 2014, when more than 400,000 were registered as unemployed.

The jobless rate a year ago was 12.2 percent. The finance ministry expects the jobless percentage to stay in double digits this year, as the economy struggles to recover from persistent deflation and declining foreign investment.

The ministry expects gross domestic product to rise by 0.8 percent this year from expected growth of 1.5 percent in 2014.

Copyright Reuters, 2015

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