Russia's official unemployment rate has risen 15 percent since the start of the year as the country's economic downturn takes its toll on the labor market, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday.
According to data from the Labor Ministry, the number of unemployed Russians rose from 873,000 people in January to 935,000 people by the end of September.
The highest unemployment rate since the start of the year was recorded in late March, when the number of unemployed people exceeded 1 million.
However, the current official unemployment rate is half that seen during the economic crisis of 2008-09, said Maxim Parshin, deputy head of the Federal Labor and Employment Service.
In addition, the number of vacancies available to be filled by the employment services has almost halved, he said.
Parshin said instability on the jobs market was also reflected in the fact that part-time employment in Russia had risen by 40 percent since the beginning of the year.