Romania's unemployment total rose in January as the country's labor market began to feel the effects of the economic downturn.

According to the European state's employment agency, the national jobless total increased to 8.1 per cent last month, which is a growth of 0.3 per cent on December's figures, Reuters reported.

The new European Union member has suffered from dwindling demand from its main trading partners in the region, which has forced many companies in the country to cut output and reduce payrolls.

However, Romania secured around 20 billion euros in loans from international lenders last year, which it will use over the next 12 months to aid the recovery of the economy and labor market.

Despite this, the government plans to cut around 100,000 public sector jobs over the next decade to curb the country's large fiscal imbalances.

Last week, Romania's representative to the International Monetary Fund Mihai Tanasescu suggested that the country's economy will see moderate economic growth of 1.5 per cent this year.