The messenger logo

Unemployment rate disputed

By Messenger Staff
Friday, February 10
According to the National Statistics Office, unemployment in 2011 was 13%, down from 16% in 2009 and 2008. However, analysts criticize the office's methodology, and suggest that many underemployed or subsistence workers are not being properly counted, nor does the national rate reveal the great differences between urban and rural areas. Other sources have put the number of unemployed at closer to 40-50%.