At the end of October, 727,142 people were registered as unemployed in Serbia, which is 10,018 or 1.36 percent less than in September, the National Employment Service reported.

According to stats on the Service's official site (www.nsz.gov.rs), of the total unemployed persons in Serbia actively looking for jobs, 53.34 percent, or 387,847, are women.

A total of 33,813 newly registered unemployed persons were recorded in October, 14,015 of which are first-time job-seekers.

Of the total number of unemployed, 63.63 percent have been looking for a job for over a year. Most unemployed persons, 12.75 percent, are between the ages of 25 and 29, according to the service.

During October, 55,688 people lost their jobs, which is 3.98 percent less than in the same month of 2008.

The number of employees in September was 164,956, or 8.28 percent less than at the end of the same month in 2008, according to the report.