Vladimir Putin calls for maximizing efforts to fight unemployment

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the government and regional authorities to maximize efforts to solve the problem of unemployment, which has risen drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The preservation of jobs and incomes of Russian families from the very beginning of the fight against the consequences of the epidemic has become the most important priority in our work," Xinhua news agency quoted Putin as saying at a meeting on Wednesday. The authorities need to offer accelerated courses, training and retraining programs for those who have lost their jobs, he said. The situation on the labour market in Russia is better than that in a number of developed countries, Labour Minister Anton Kotyakov said at the meeting. (IANS)