The number of newly registered unemployed in July was 7,371, which is 14.2% more than in June, but down 6.2% year-on-year.

Among the newly registered, 644 were young first-job seekers, 1,990 were made redundant or lost their jobs because of bankruptcies and 3,545 saw their fixed-term contracts run out.

The employers reported 15,549 job vacancies in July, which is 19.6% less than in June and up 2.5% compared to the same month last year.

Of the 6,890 unemployed removed from the Employment Service's register, 3,982 found a job or started their own business, a 19.5% decrease compared to June and down 16.2% year-on-year.

Unemployment was up in seven regions in July, the most in Trbovlje (2.8%) and Ljubljana (1.3%). The five remaining regional Employment Service offices recorded a drop in the number of unemployed, the biggest in Ptuj (2.2%).

Average registered unemployment stood at 111,361 in the first seven months of 2011, which is a 12.6% increase on the same period last year. A total of 54,744 people registered during this time, while 57,203 signed themselves out of the register.