In May of this year, Croatia was again among the countries of the European Union (EU) with the largest drop in the unemployment rate on an annual basis, as reported by Eurostat on Monday.
At the level of the 28-member EU, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May remained at the lowest levels since August 2008, at seven percent, which was the revised figure for April.
In the eurozone, it also remained unchanged, holding steady at April’s 8.4 percent, the lowest level since December 2008. The previous figure for April was revised down by 0.1 percentage points, as was the case for the EU as a whole.
>>> Croatia Recorded One of the Largest Drops in Unemployment in the EU
In May, a total of 17.207 million citizens were unemployed in the EU, of which 13.656 million were in the eurozone. This number decreased on a monthly basis by 154 thousand in the EU and by 125 thousand in the eurozone.
Compared to the same period last year, the number of unemployed in the EU decreased by 1.828 million and in the eurozone by 1.252 million.
Among EU member states, the Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.3 percent, followed by Germany at 3.4 percent.
The highest unemployment rates were recorded in Greece at 20.1 percent in March 2018, and in Spain at 15.8 percent.
In Croatia, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May decreased to 8.9 percent, down from 9.1 percent recorded in April.
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In May, there were 162 thousand citizens unemployed in Croatia, two thousand fewer than in April. Compared to May of last year, the number of unemployed decreased by 43 thousand.
At the same time, Croatia ranked among the countries with the largest drop in unemployment for the seventh consecutive month compared to the same month last year, by 2.4 percentage points.
The largest annual decrease in the unemployment rate was recorded in Cyprus, by three percentage points, followed by Greece with a decrease of two percentage points, and Portugal where it decreased by 1.9 percentage points.
Continuation of a Mild Decline in Youth Unemployment
At the EU level, the unemployment rate for the age group up to 25 years decreased in May by 0.1 percentage points compared to April, amounting to 15.1 percent. In May of last year, it was 17.2 percent.
In the eurozone, it was lower by 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous month, amounting to 16.8 percent. In the same month last year, it reached 19.3 percent.
In May, a total of 3.377 million young people were unemployed in the EU, of which 2.390 million were in the eurozone.
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Compared to May of last year, their number in the EU decreased by 519 thousand, and by 353 thousand in the eurozone.
Among member states, the lowest youth unemployment rates were recorded in Malta at 4.8 percent, Germany at 6.1 percent, Estonia at 6.8 percent according to data for April 2018, and the Netherlands at 6.9 percent.
The highest youth unemployment rate is recorded in Greece at 43.2 percent in March 2018, followed by Spain and Italy at 33.8 and 31.9 percent, respectively.
Croatia does not publish monthly data on the youth unemployment rate. According to the latest available data, in the first quarter of this year, it was revised to 23.6 percent, with 37 thousand citizens under 25 years old unemployed, as reported by Eurostat.
