Unemployment Figures in Sverdlovsk Oblast Grow Every Month

13.05.2009 — News

THE SVERDLOVSK OBLAST.

The number of unemployed in the Sverdlovsk Oblast has exceeded 85 thousand people, i.e. 3.5 % of the region's population capable of work. There are 16 thousand jobseekers in Ekaterinburg - the unemployment rate in the Oblast capital has reached 2%.

7 thousand out of 12,700 vacancies advertised in job centres are employers' requests for foreign workers. 1.5 billion roubles will be spent on fighting unemployment in Sverdlovsk Oblast this year. This is the largest level of spending amongst all Russian regions.

The city administration informed RusBusinessNews that in the first quarter of 2009 the majority of industrial enterprises experienced a drop in their economic performance indicators. Only two plants have managed to ship more in the January-March period.

Large enterprises in the Urals are being defeated in the State-run tenders and competitions: manufacturers can not compete with smaller companies and dumping price offers of products and services from abroad. Moreover, banks are refusing companies to restructure their debts and raising interest rates. The situation in Ekaterinburg industry has directly reflected on the city budget. The budget revenue amounted to 4.5 billion roubles in the first quarter 2009, a 13% drop compared to the previous year.