MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - The number of officially unemployed Russians stood at 1,735,000 million as of February 3, a 90,000 increase in the space of seven days, the Ministry of Health and Social Development said on Tuesday.

The highest growth in unemployment rates between January 28 and February 3 was reported in the Kirov Region, in the northeast of European Russia, in the East Siberian republic of Buryatia, in Russia's Volga Republic of Tatarstan, in central Russia's Kostroma Region, and in northwest Russia's Leningrad Region.

However, unofficial unemployment rates are much higher, as most people do not register with the authorities after losing their job.

The number of Russians officially dismissed from their place of work since October 2008 has reached more than 150,000. Around 56,000 of them have since found another job, including 28,000 in the same company, the ministry said. Around 19,000 companies across Russia had announced staff layoffs of as February 3.

Deputy Health and Social Development Minister Maxim Topilin said last month that the total number of people out of work in Russia could reach 7 million by the end of the year.

Russia has been hard hit by the global financial crunch that was sparked by the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States last summer and quickly spread to the rest of the world. The value of the ruble has seen its sharpest decline against the dollar since the 1998 financial crisis.