Unemployment down nearly 4% in Azerbaijan
About 368,000 people were officially registered as unemployed in Azerbaijan as of January 1, 2013, of which 42.1 percent - women, according to the report of the State Statistics Committee. During the year, the number of unemployed in the country decreased by 3.9 percent.
Average amount of unemployment benefit is 224.1 manat, which is 17.7 higher than in 2011.
As of early 2013, the economically active population totaled 4.688 million people, of which 4.445 million were employed. As of November, the number of persons employed totaled 1.470 million, including 897,900 people employed in the public sector, and 572,300 people - in private.
Along with this, the number of employees in the oil sector amounted to 37,900 people, in the non-oil sector - 1.432 million people. 1.427 million people are employed in non-agricultural sector.
Of those employed, 23 percent are involved in the manufacturing sector, of which 7.5 per cent - in construction, 6.3 percent - the manufacturing industry, three percent - agriculture, forestry, fishery, 2.6 percent - the mining industry, two percent - in the production and distribution of electricity, gas and steam, 1.6 percent - in the water, cleaning and recycling spheres.
In services, 23.5 per cent of workers are concentrated in the areas of education, 19.4 percent - trade, repair of vehicles, 9.2 percent - the delivery of health and social services, 4.4 percent - in the field of public administration and defense, social security, 4 9 percent - transportation and warehousing, 3.9 percent - work in the field of recreation, entertainment and the arts, 3.3 percent - the scientific and technical activities, 1.8 percent - in the field of communication and information, 1.7 percent - finance and insurance, 0.8 percent - in real estate operations, rent, 1.8 percent - provide administrative and support services, 1.3 percent - accommodation and food service, and one per cent - in other areas.
The official exchange rate for Jan. 21 is 0,7848 AZN / USD.