UNEMPLOYMENT AT 14.2% IN RUSSIA.

The number of people who are not employed but actively seeking work, and who can be considered "unemployed" according to the methodology used by the International Employment Organization, increased by 2.9% in Russia for the first half of 1999, up to 10.4 mln. people. This information, based on data from the first half of the year, was included in a report by the Ministry of Employment and Social Development. The general level of unemployment, calculated as a ratio of the number of unemployed people in relation to the total number of people in the able-bodied workforce, increased from 12.4% at the beginning of the year, to 14.2%. The current total number of people in the able-bodied workforce is calculated to be 73.6 mln. people (about 50% of the entire population of Russia). As the ministry_s report notes, the largest increase in unemployment occurred in the areas of agriculture, industry and transportation. Small and middle-sized businesses saw the largest increase in unemployment since the August 1998 crisis, up to 30%.