RIGA, May 11 (LETA) - The registered unemployment rate in Latvia at the end of April was 12.9 percent of economically-active residents, which is 1.2 percentage points more than in March, the State Employment Agency informed LETA.

The agency explains that the unemployment rate represents the proportion of unemployed residents, registered with the Employment Agency, in the total number of economically active residents. The Employment Agency receives data on the number of economically active residents in the country from the Central Statistical Bureau once a year, in April.

Based on the Central Statistical Bureau's data, the results of the 2011 population census have brought the number of economically active residents in Latvia down by 12.7 percent, therefore the unemployment rate, given the smaller number of economically active residents, increased - although the number of unemployed residents has been reducing the past two months.

Therefore, taking into account the latest Central Statistical Bureau's data, the registered unemployment rate in Latvia was 12.9 percent at the end of April.

At the beginning of April, 132,158 people had the status of an unemployed person registered with the Employment Agency, the number reduced to 127,783 by the end of April.

The lowest unemployment rate last month was registered in Riga Region - 9 percent, while the highest unemployment rate was recorded in Latgale province - 24.1 percent. Unemployment in Kurzeme stood at 13.9 percent in April, in Zemgale at 14.4 percent and in Vidzeme at 15.1 percent.

Among the cities, Riga had the lowest unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, followed by Jelgava -9.7 percent, Ventspils - 10.8 percent, Valmiera - 10.6 percent, Daugavpils - 12.3 percent, Jurmala - 14.3 percent, Liepaja - 12.7 percent, Jekabpils - 18.4 percent, Rezekne - 23.4 percent.