As of Oct. 1 there were 12,669 unemployed people registered at the Estonian Labor Market Board, 3.3 percent less than the previous month and 44.8 percent fewer than on last Oct. 1, 2005. Unemployed workers accounted for 1.5 percent of the working age population in the country. A total of 14,891 people looked for work via the government's Labor Market Board during September, and 2,312 people were registered as newly unemployed. The level of unemployment is still the highest in East Viru County, where 3.6 percent of the working age population were registered as unemployed, as well as in Valga County, where the figure was 3.3 percent. The jobless level was the lowest in Rapla and Parnu Counties, where 0.8 percent in Rapla and 0.9 percent in Parnu were unemployed. In September there were 4,980 jobless drawing unemployment benefits, 3.5 percent less than last month and 54.1 percent less than in Sept. 2005.
