OREANDA-NEWS. November 18, 2009. According to Statistics Estonia, the number of the unemployed in Estonia increased to an estimated 102,000 people in the third quarter. At the same time, the unemployment growth rate has considerably eased and the number of participants in the labour force has grown, reported the press-centre of Eesti Pank.

The positive news on the third quarter concern participation in the labour force and employment. Although the number of those giving up looking for a job continued to increase, the amount of participants in the labour force has grown by almost 16,000 people in the third quarter.

Extensive changes in the structure of the employed continued. Compared to the second quarter, the number of the employed went up by 5,500, which is, to a great extent, seasonal, but the decline slowed compared to the same time a year ago. Similarly to earlier downturns, the problem of unemployment is the most painful for the young, people with low professional skills, and temporary workers.

The number of companies and self-employed people increased in the third quarter, mainly in construction, information and communications services and real-estate related activities. At the same time, the number of wage earners dropped, mostly in construction and manufacturing.

Whereas economic forecasts expect economic growth figures to turn positive in the first half of 2010, the creation of new jobs will start with a considerable lag time. Therefore, the unemployment rate will continue to rise in 2010 as well, but at a slower pace.

As a result of the global financial crisis, the majority of countries are facing problems associated with decreasing jobs and increasing unemployment. Looking further ahead, it is not sure how large a share of the robustly growing unemployment will become structural (i.e., people who have lost their job will become either long-term unemployed or leave the labour force).