At the end of April, 118,922 unemployed persons

At the end of April, the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) recorded 118,922 unemployed persons, which is a monthly decrease of 5.3 percent and an annual decrease of 20 percent, according to HZZ data.

April marks the third consecutive month in which the number of unemployed persons has continued to decline on a monthly basis, with 6,682 fewer than in March.

Daily data from HZZ indicates that, influenced by seasonal trends in the Croatian labor market due to the needs of the tourism sector, the decline in the number of unemployed will continue into May. Currently, there are 114,163 unemployed registered at the HZZ, which is 4,759 fewer than at the end of April. There are currently 23,024 job vacancies published at the HZZ.

HZZ statistics show that the number of registered unemployed has decreased by 29,822 persons on an annual basis.

During April of this year, a total of 11,421 persons were newly registered as unemployed, which is 3.1 percent more than in April last year.

Of these, 69.7 percent or 7,960 persons came to the HZZ directly from employment.

In April, the highest number of persons coming directly from employment was from the manufacturing industry – 1,205 persons (15.1 percent), followed by wholesale and retail trade with 1,081 persons (13.6 percent), other service activities with 809 persons (10.2 percent), accommodation, food preparation and serving with 782 persons (9.8 percent), and education with 638 persons (8 percent).

In April, 3,249 persons (28.4 percent of newly registered) came to the unemployed registry from inactivity, 189 persons (1.7 percent) from regular schooling, and 23 persons (0.2 percent) from other business activities.

According to HZZ data, 18,103 persons exited the unemployed registry in April, which is one percent more than in April 2021.

Of these, 14,565 persons were employed, of which 13,744 persons (or 94.4 percent) were based on the establishment of an employment relationship, and 821 persons (or 5.6 percent) based on other business activities (earning a monthly income or profit from another independent activity greater than the average paid cash benefit in the previous calendar year, registering a company, craft, applying for agricultural insurance, employment under special regulations, etc.).

Recorded employment based on an employment relationship was most common in the accommodation, food preparation and serving sector – 4,469 persons or 32.5 percent.

Following this, wholesale and retail trade employed 1,817 persons or 13.2 percent based on the establishment of an employment relationship in April, followed by the manufacturing industry with 1,643 persons or 12 percent, administrative and support service activities with 1,023 persons or 7.4 percent, and construction with 736 persons or 5.4 percent.

In April of this year, 3,538 persons exited the unemployed registry for other reasons in accordance with the law, e.g., leaving the labor force (retirement, enrollment in regular schooling), non-compliance with legal provisions (not actively seeking work, unavailable for work), deregistration from the registry, etc.

Among the counties, the leading ones in employment were Split-Dalmatia County (2,676 persons or 19.5 percent of the total number of employed based on the establishment of an employment relationship), Osijek-Baranja County (1,202 persons or 8.7 percent), the City of Zagreb (1,138 persons or 8.3 percent), and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (1,017 persons or 7.4 percent).

These are also the counties with the highest absolute numbers of registered unemployed. Thus, the highest number of unemployed is in Split-Dalmatia County (22,158 or 18.6 percent of the total number in Croatia), followed by Osijek-Baranja County (14,829 or 12.5 percent) and the City of Zagreb (13,867 or 11.7 percent).

The least unemployed at the end of April were in Lika-Senj County (1,521 or 1.3 percent) and Koprivnica-Križevci County (1,840 or 1.5 percent).

According to HZZ data, in April, 21,994 persons or 18.5 percent of the total number of unemployed received cash benefits. The number of cash benefit recipients decreased compared to the same month in 2021 by 16.4 percent or 4,315 persons.