Unemployment in Bulgaria continues to grow, reaching 8.03 per cent in September as opposed to 7.88 per cent in August 2009, Investor.bg reported on October 21 2009.

In total, 297 515 people applied for work in September alone. The applications for work have come from several different segments of the economy, with services leading the charts with 49.8 per cent, industry 29.7 per cent, manufacturing, 20.8 per cent, retail 16.9 per cent, construction eight per cent and state administration and defence with 7.3 per cent.

The capital city maintains the best employment record by far, as Sofia currently accounts for just 2.4 per cent unemployment, followed by Bourgas with 4.17 per cent, Varna 5.62 with per cent, Gabrovo with 5.83 per cent, Stara Zagora with 6.63 per cent, Plovdiv with 7.39 per cent and Pernik with 7.79 per cent, Investor said.

The worst-affected towns in Bulgaria have remained more or less unchanged from previous figures, with Smolyan in the lead with 14.78 per cent, Montana in second with 13.61, followed by Turgovishte and Vidin with 13.58 and 12.9 per cent, respectively.

On average, unemployment in Bulgaria nationwide for the first six months of 2009 was 7.22 per cent. This indicates that the national unemployment level is slightly better than the European Union average for the same period, 8.65 per cent.

Average unemployment in the European zone for September 2009 alone is 9.1 per cent.

On the flip side, 13 895 people in September started work in Bulgaria, which is a 41 per cent increase from August, most of them being teachers or in the service sector.