Russia's registered unemployment holds at 0.9% max. - Golikova

MOSCOW. Sept 23 (Interfax) - The rate of registered unemployment in Russia remains at 0.9% of the total workforce, jobless numbers dropped by 7,400 over past week, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told an interagency working group tasked with restoring the labor market.

"We are closely monitoring the situation on the job market. Registered unemployment still remains at the 0.9% level. From September 12 to 19 registered jobless numbers dropped by 7,400 to 646,500 people," Golikova's office quoted her as saying on Friday.

The number of people working part-time day or week dropped by 2,400 to 119,100, while the number of idle workers (downtime) increased by 500 to 94,400, she said.

Labor and Social Protection Minister Anton Kotyakov was quoted as saying that the application period was still active for vocational training under the Demography national project's Fostering Employment federal project. More than 64,000 people have already completed the training.