Bulgaria registered an unemployment rate of 9.2 % in September, which represented a drop of 0.1 % compared to the previous month and a decrease of 1.3 % compared to September 2014.

The latest figures of the Employment Agency, which were released on Wednesday, show that the unemployment rate continued to drop for the sixth consecutive month.

A total of 302 775 people were registered as unemployed in September, which represented a decrease of 4046 persons compared to August.

Compared to September 2014, the number of people registered as unemployed decreased by 42 600, which represented the largest drop for the month of September since 2008.

The number of youth (under the age of 29) registered as unemployed amounted to 46 197 people, representing 15.3 % of all unemployed persons.

The number of unemployed youth dropped by 643 on a monthly basis and the decrease on an annual basis was even more considerable as their number was reduced by 13 154 people.

A total of 19 999 unemployed people became employed in September, which represented an increase of 4822 persons compared to August.

The increased employment in this period, as has been the case in previous years, was due to the beginning of the school year, which was accompanied by the hiring of employees in the education sphere.

A total of 16 479 vacancies were announced in September, which was an increase of 1240 compared to August.

The most vacancies were announced in the processing industry, followed by: administrative and auxiliary activities; education; commerce; construction; hotels and restaurants; transport, storage and posts; civil service; real estate operations; agriculture, forestry and fisheries.