September 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's August unemployment rate rose to 7.88% from 7.62% a month earlier, official statistics showed on Friday.
In August 2008 Bulgaria's jobless rate was 5.89%.
A total of 291,852 unemployed were registered with the country's employment offices at the end of August, up by 9,641 from July, the government's Employment Agency said in a statement.
A total of 11,666 new jobs were opened in August, 1,516 less than in July, and 9,867 people found jobs in August.
The average monthly unemployment rate in the first eight months of the year was 7.12%. The average unemployment rate in the European Union was 9.0% in July, the agency said.
Business managers and lobby groups see the country's jobless rate soaring to double digits this year from last year’s record lows as falling demand resulting from the global economic slowdown and plunging commodity prices on international markets force businesses to cut production.
Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in 2007, has a population of 7.6 million people. The country's unemployment rate at the end of last year was 6.27%.