Lietuva in brief - 2012-05-10

On May 3, the Lithuanian Labor Exchange (LDB) registered 232,200 jobseekers, which accounts for 11.2 percent of all working age people, reports ELTA. According to the LDB, last week the average number of new jobseekers registered per day decreased - previously around 1,000 jobless used to be registered per day, while from April 27-May 3 there were 900. For the week, employers submitted 3,600 job offers. During April 27-May 3, the territorial labor exchanges assisted in employing 3,200 jobseekers. 1,600 jobseekers were directed to active labor market policy measures. A majority of them - 60.5 percent - acquired business licenses. From April 27-May 3, a jobless status was granted by the territorial labor exchanges to 3,900 people, 700 of them, or 18.6 percent, were under the age of 25. Unemployment benefits were paid to 36,600 or 15.6 percent of the registered jobseekers. In one week, 1,700 new unemployment benefits were assigned.

The Irish police force Gardai is probing Eastern European criminals who are being blamed for a series of raids on jewelers around Ireland in recent months and are thought to be controlled from their base in Lithuania, reports Independent.ie. Detectives have already identified several suspects, including an alleged mastermind, and recovered some of the stolen jewels. The thieves are provided with a one-way flight and a cheaply purchased car to use in their getaway after the robbery. They are thought to flee by ferry to the UK immediately after the raids before making their way back to base. At least six robberies have been linked to the commuter gang and the raids have netted jewelry with an overall value of more than 250,000 euros. In one recent case, the thieves arrived at Dublin airport on a flight from Vilnius on a Sunday morning, were briefed on their task by an Irish-based accomplice and then carried out the robbery on Monday morning. In some of the cases, the thieves have not even bothered to hide their faces. A separate group was broken up last October when Gardai established a connection between two jewelry raids in Trim and Maynooth.