Jobless rate high, trend positive

At the end of November Slovakia registered 488,000 unemployed people, 18 percent of the workforce, but saw the slowest end-year growth in the jobless rate in the past five years, said economists.Ján Tóth, senior analyst at ING bank, ascribed the improvement to a rapid increase in new jobs in the private sector. For every available position there were 15 unemployed people at the end of November, down from a high of 30 people in past years.