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Mauritius unemployment at 8.0 pct in first quarter

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The unemployment rate in Mauritius rose to 8.0 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from 7.5 percent in the previous three months, but the figure was lower than the same period a year earlier, official data showed on Thursday. Mauritius relies heavily on business with Europe, its main export market and the source of many of its tourists. Statistics Mauritius Office said in a statement there were 523,200 employed Mauritians in the first quarter of the year, against 535,300 employed in the fourth quarter of 2013 but more than the 513,900 who were in work in the first quarter of last year. The statistics office said the unemployment rate was 8.6 percent in the first quarter of 2013. Government statistics showed a total of 45,300 unemployed. Official forecasts project an unemployment rate of 8.0 percent in 2014, the same as last year.