DUSHANBE, April 3, 2014, Asia-Plus -- The State Agency for Social Protection, Employment and Migration reports that a total of more than 18,000 have contacted the Agency for assistance with employment over the first two months of this year.

Of this total, some 11,000 individuals were registered as job seekers and more than 7,000 were officially registered as unemployed.

Over the report period, some 4,000 people have been placed in jobs, or nearly 20 percent of those who applied.

The main reasons for providing a limited number of people with jobs were that the majority of unemployed do not have the necessary technical training or have lost skills due to prolonged unemployment, and the low level of wages offered by employers.

Over the same two-month period, unemployment benefits have been provided to 902 people for a total of more than 332,000 somoni (equivalent to some 70,000 USD).

Including carryover from 2013, on March 1, 2013, a total of nearly 80,000 persons were registered with the Agency as looking for work.

According to the State Agency for Social Protection, Employment and Migration, nearly 15,000 new jobs have been created in the country over the first two months of this year.