According to its quarterly flash report, the NFSZ said 27.4% of the total, or around 66,200 people, had been seeking work for more than one year. The ratio was down 7.1 percentage points from a year earlier.

Among jobseekers as of the end of December, 48% were men and 52% women, their numbers falling a respective 6.5% and 3.7% year-on-year.

Around 136,500 jobseekers, or 56.4% of the total, were eligible for some kind of unemployment or social support during the month.