No specific information is currently available to the IRBDC which mentions that non-Party members have difficulty obtaining a job in Bulgaria. However, according to the World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties and the Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, only between 11 and 13 percent of the Bulgarian population are members of the Bulgarian Communist Party. Consequently, Party members form a small elite group in Bulgarian society. Both the sources listed above further mention that the official union, or that attached to the Communist Party, the Central Council of Trade Unions, has over 4 million members. Given a population of 8.9 million, membership in this union may represent a large proportion of the employable workforce in Bulgaria. It is not known whether refusal to join the Communist affiliated union would create difficulties in finding employment.