Poll – Unemployment rate at 8.3% in December 

The registered unemployment rate amounted to 8.3 percent at the end of December 2016 – an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, according to analysts polled by ISBnews. Forecasts from 14 economists ranged from 8.3 percent to 8.4 percent, with an average of 8.33 (compared to 8.2 percent y/y a month earlier). The Central Statistical Office (GUS) will provide data on the unemployment rate for December on January 25. In this year's budget the government wrote that the registered unemployment rate at the end of 2016 would amount to 8.9 percent and would by the end of 2017 decline to 8 percent (compared to 9.8 percent at end-2015).