300,000 Russians lose jobs in January

MOSCOW (Reuters) - About 300,000 Russians lost their jobs in January, taking the total number of unemployed to 6.1 million, while retail sales inched up year-on-year and housing completions fell, data showed on Thursday.

Data from the Federal Statistics Service showed the number of jobless jumped to 8.1 percent of the workforce from 7.7 percent in December, when half a million Russians lost jobs.

The figure is likely to grow quickly as the financial crisis hits home in Russia's real economy, and government officials have warned April will be one of the toughest months in terms of job losses.

The government now forecasts the economy to contract by 2.2 percent in 2009, as falling oil and commodity prices lead a retreat from a decade of impressive growth.

Completions of housing units in Russia totaled 35,800 in January, traditionally sharply down versus December but some 4 percent weaker than in January last year.

January retail sales surprised by showing year-on-year growth of 2.4 percent. In December, they grew by 4.8 percent year-on-year.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Patrick Graham)