Some 14,730 people registered anew with the Employment Service in October, 69% more than in September and 24.7% more than in the same period last year.

Nearly 6,300 of them were first-time job seekers - usually fresh out of university. Some 4,860 registered with the service in October after their fixed-term contracts had not been extended.

On the other hand, the number of new job openings has increased as well, also due to the Employment Service's programmes encouraging employers to hire new work force.

There were 5.4% more new job openings in October than there were in September and 0.6% more than in October the previous year.