Unemployment rose in May to reach 7.7 percent, up 0.3 percent on the previous month, according to the latest figures from the National Statistics Institute (INS). The rise means the unemployment rate is as high as it was in May 2011.

The number of unemployed people aged between 15 and 74 years was estimated at 744,000 people, up from 720,000 in the previous month, and higher than in the same month of previous year, when the total number of people unemployed was 733,000.

The unemployment rate is 1.7 percent higher among men is than among women – 8.4 percent of men are out of work against 6.7 percent of women. For adults aged 25 to 74 years the unemployment rate was estimated at 6.1 percent for May 2012 ( 6.8 percent for men and 5.3 percent for women) according to INS figures.

The unemployed aged 25-74 years represent 72.9 percent of the estimated total number of unemployed people in May 2012.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com