642 Factories shut down, Unemployment at 7%

    642 enterprises have fully or partially shut down because of the world financial crisis, Minister of Labor and Social Development Gulshara Abdykalikova said, KazTAG reported.
    "Inflation increased from 6.6% to 7% because enterprises have shut down. 589.6 thousand people were registered as unemployed in the first quarter of 2009," Abdykalikova said.
    The government plans to allocate KZT 140 billion to stabilize the labor market, creating jobs, and staff training and retraining, she noted.
    "Local budgets will allocate KZT 51 billion as additional funds for co-financing the employment strategy," she added, according to CA-News