"The rise in unemployment did not abate in January, as the start of the year is usually marked by greater numbers of newly registered unemployed persons. This was even more pronounced this January in the face of the deteriorating economic conditions," the Employment Service said on Wednesday.

In January 15,786 people registered as unemployed, which is 19.9% more than in December and 36.8% more than in January last year. Expired fixed-term contracts were the reason for most of the new registrations.

Meanwhile, demand for labour picked up in January, as 13,459 job vacancies were registered, which is a 39.8% increase on December.