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More […] Russian workers have been placed on reduced hours or unpaid leave since the start of the year, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, warning of a sharp rise in what he called “hidden unemployment” despite the country’s official jobless rate sitting at a record low.

Addressing a Kremlin meeting on economic issues, Putin said the number of workers under such arrangements — whom he described as “at risk of dismissal” — had nearly doubled in the past seven months.

“At the beginning of the year there were about 98,000 people in this situation, by the end of June it was 153,000, and by Aug. 8 the figure had reached 199,000,” he said, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin.

While official unemployment in Russia remains at 2.2%, the president said the latest figures signal a worrying trend that policymakers must “catch” early to avoid “cooling the economy.”

Among those in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting were Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin.

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