The registered unemployment rate has fallen below 20 percent for the first time since October of last year, standing at 19.6 percent for May, as reported today by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.
On a monthly basis, compared to April, the registered unemployment rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points, but on an annual basis, it is still higher by 1.8 percentage points, given that it was 17.8 percent in May of last year.
The last time the registered unemployment rate was below 20 percent was in October of last year when it was 19.4 percent, and in the past six months, the highest rate was recorded in February at 21.9 percent.
Primarily due to the seasonality of the Croatian labor market and the demand for seasonal workers, a decline in the registered unemployment rate has been recorded on a monthly basis since March – in March, the rate was 21.6 percent, and in April, it fell to 20.9 percent.
According to data from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), at the end of May, there were 333,249 unemployed individuals registered, which is a decrease of 6.3 percent or 22,349 persons compared to the previous month, while on an annual basis, compared to the end of May last year, the number of unemployed is higher by 8.9 percent or 27,193 persons.
The decline in the number of unemployed continues into June, and data from the HZZ website today around noon shows that the current number of unemployed is 320,739 individuals, while the current number of published job vacancies is 5,977.
