According to preliminary data, the total number of unemployed people in Russia climbed 16.4 percent to 5.84 million in October 2009 compared to the same month of the previous year, the Russian Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported today. At the same time, the number of unemployed inched up 1.3 percent compared to September 2009, and the figure jumped 36.8 percent in January-October compared to the same period of 2008.

The number of economically active people amounted to 75.8 million, or more than 53 percent of the country's population.

The number of officially registered unemployed surged 61.8 percent to 2 million people in October compared to October 2008.