Moscow, Mar 15 (IANS): Russia's unemployment rate has dropped to a historic low of 3.6 per cent, President Vladimir Putin said.

"The unemployment rate was at a historic low, even before the pandemic, our unemployment rate was 4.7 per cent, and the latest labour market data (shows) it is 3.6 percent," Xinhua news agency quoted Putin as saying on Tuesday.

"I think nobody expected that. Everyone expected that plants will stop. They are functioning. The unemployment rate goes down. Incomes have a slight uptick. All that leads to growth of domestic trade and its volumes. This is a very good indicator," Putin added.

On a positive note, he said that harvest in the country was a record high in the history of Russia.

"The Agriculture Minister reported to me two days ago that (the harvest) is already about 153-155 million metric tonnes. This is actually the record throughout the contemporary history of Russia and nothing of the kind occurred in Soviet times," Putin added.