MOSCOW, January 26 (RIA Novosti) - The total number of unemployed in Russia in 2006 decreased on 2005 by 4.9%, to 5.3 million people, Russia's statistics service said Friday.
The Federal State Statistics Service said the number of those officially registered as unemployed dropped by 4.4%, to 1.8 million.
It said the economically active population by the end of December 2006 stood at 74.3 million, or 52% of the country's total population.