Norway to face higher unemployment in coming months

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

STOCKHOLM, March 11 (Chinese media) -- More people than expected will be laid off in Norway in the coming months, according to forecast reports Wednesday.

More than 100,000 people will lose their jobs by the end of this year, a much higher figure than earlier estimated, the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV) said in a statement in Oslo.

"Unemployment has increased strongly over the past months, and now we get negative news continually about the economic development in the whole world. Therefore the unemployment will be higher," NAV Director Tor Saglie said in the statement.

The statement also pointed out that about 67,000 Norwegians are presently out of work and the unemployment rate of the country is about 2.7 percent.