The number of unemployed was 14.2% higher than in the final quarter of 2012. The working population shrank by 34,000 to 888,000, according to the survey carried out in line with definitions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Eurostat. This is the lowest number since 2003.

The biggest drop in the active population (19.3%) was recorded in non-core business activities, such as consulting, architecture, research and development, advertising and market research.

The biggest drop in active population by profession was registered among sales personnel, as some 8,000 lost their jobs in the first three months of 2013.

Broken down by age, the highest unemployment rate was among young people (15-24 years of age), at 23.3%, which is 1.5% less than the quarter before.

An age-group analysis suggests that companies have started laying off older workers after having already laid off the youngest employees that were the last to join their companies.

The active population aged between 25 and 49 contracted by 15,000, while in the over-50s group it was down by 16,000.

The non-active population increased by 21,000 to 762,000, which is the biggest number since 1993, when the Statistics Office started carrying out the unemployment survey.

Meanwhile, the registered unemployment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 13.5% in the first quarter of the year.