The number of people registered unemployed with the Federal Labor and Employment Service rose by one percent in the last week, and by Feb. 24 the official figure was 2,286,174, the Health and Social Development Ministry announced Monday. The growth rate of unemployment was a quarter of the weekly rate for the same period in 2009, analysts at the ministry said.

There was a reduction in unemployment in five of Russia’s federal regions: figures fell for the Moscow and Voronezh regions, Ingushetia, the Chukotka autonomous district and the republic of Chechnya, according to the statistics. Meanwhile in the Leningrad, Rostov, Saratov and Tyumen regions, and the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria there was no change. Of the 83 federal subjects the remaining 73 all saw unemployment figures rise in the last week.

Since October 2008 the total number of redundancies has reached 985,007. A total of 278,409 people have since found employment, of which 160,095 with their former employer. The number of employees currently inactive, including those not working full-time and those on extended vacation at the company’s initiative, stands at 1,628,812.