In the first month of 2015, the number of unemployed people increased to 4.18 million 3.974 million from 3.97 million in the previous month. A year earlier, the figure was 4.18 million.
920 thousand people were officially registered as unemployed in January, up from 880 thousand in December but marginally down from 930 thousand a year earlier.
While nominal wages rose 5.8 percent, real pay fell 8.0 percent year-on-year, following a 4 percent drop in the previous month. Real disposable income shrank 0.8 percent in January.