The number of long-term unemployed jobseekers, those unable to find work for over six months, hit an 18-year high in the first seven months of the year.
 
According to the Statistics Office on Sunday, the number of long-term unemployed jobseekers came to a monthly average of 144-thousand from January to July.
 
The figure marks the highest since 2000 when it hit 145-thousand.
 
Data showed that a monthly average of 507-thousand people gave up looking for work during the seven-month period, the largest since 2014 when the nation started compiling related data.
 
In addition, the number of economically inactive people who gave no special reason why they were not working posted a monthly average of one-point-85 million, marking the highest seven-month figure since 2003.