Brazil c. bank head says jobless rise worrying

RIO DE JANEIRO May 19 (Reuters) - The head of Brazil's central bank said on Tuesday that the country's unemployment rate would rise to 2007 levels in the second quarter of this year, a trend he called "worrying."

"The forecast for unemployment indices in the second quarter shows a trajectory comparable to 2007. It's worrying, we are going back two years," Henrique Meirelles told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.

Unemployment in Brazil jumped in March to the highest since September 2007 as companies laid off workers and a sharp slowdown in Latin America's largest economy made it harder for people to find jobs.

The jobless rate BRUNR=ECI rose to 9 percent in March from 8.5 percent in February, the highest in 17 months.

Brazil's central bank has slashed interest rates by 3.5 percentage points so far this year and is expected to keep lowering borrowing costs to boost the economy.

Meirelles also said that the central bank forecasts that Brazil's public debt would end 2009 at 38 percent of gross domestic product, in line with most market expectations. (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Stuart Grudgings, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)