The unemployment rate in Bulgaria stood at 6.79% in March 2008, down by 0.46 percentage points compared to February and a decline of 2.12 percentage points on March 2007, the National Employment Agency said.

The unemployment rate registered a decrease in all 28 regions in Bulgaria in March, compared to the previous month.

A total of 251,640 jobless were registered with the job centers in March, down by 17,116 (6.4%) compared to the previous month. The number of unemployed declined by 78,630 compared to March 2007.

The number of vacancies announced by the job centers in March amounted to 26,248. The figure marked an increase of 11,497 on February.

A total of 71,443 people worked under employment programs and projects implemented by the National Employment Agency in March, an increase of 6,392, compared to February.

A total of 3,867 unemployed were included in professional qualification programs in March. The figure represents a 2.4-fold increase compared to the previous month.