The number of people without work rose slightly in March to 465,000, taking the jobless figure to 5.9%, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

The rise in the jobless rate is strongest among youngsters. Some 11.8% of 15 to 24-year-olds were officially without work in March, compared with 9.2% in the year earlier period.
Some 396,000 people are now claiming unemployment benefit, an increase of 25,000 on a year ago.
The government’s macro-economic agency CPB expects the jobless total to rise to 500,000 over the next couple of years.