ULAN BATOR, Oct.13 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in Mongolia decreased by 4.6 percent in the first three quarters of this year, compared with the same period last year, the country's National Statistical Office (NSO) said Friday.

But the figure was 4.9 percentage points higher month-on-month.

A total of 24,200 people were recorded to be unemployed, more than half of whom were female. And the highest unemployment rate went to people aged 15-24.

The report showed that 30.2 percent of the unemployed had university degrees.

During the first three quarters of this year, some 14,900 out of the total registered unemployed people got a new job through intermediaries.