According to the Labour Force Survey, in the second quarter of this year Croatia had 238,000 unemployed persons.
The rate of survey unemployment in Croatia in the second quarter of this year stood at 13 percent, which is 2.8 percentage points less than in the second quarter of 2015 when it stood at 15.8 percent, according to the first results of the Labour Force Survey which were announced on Friday by the Central Bureau of Statistics, reports Večernji List on September 24, 2016.
According to the survey, in the second quarter of this year Croatia had 238,000 unemployed persons, which is 57,000 less than in the second quarter of 2015, and 44,000 less than in the first quarter of this year. The number of employed persons in the second quarter of this year was 1.62 million, which is 66,000 persons more that in the previous quarter and 18,000 persons more than in the second quarter of 2015. The employment rate, which shows the share of employed persons among the working age population, in the second quarter of this year stood at 45.1 percent, 1.9 percentage points more than in the previous quarter. Year-on-year, the rate increased by 0.6 percentage points.
Analysts of the Croatian Chamber of Economy say that the results of the Labour Force Survey, as well as data from the unemployment register, show significant positive annual improvement. However, they warn that negative changes can be seen when it comes to level of activity of the working age population, which “proves that the positive direction of the unemployment statistics is also significantly influenced by negative elements such as economic emigration and demographic attrition”.
The working age population numbers have been continuously declining for 28 consecutive quarters, and they currently stand at 3.59 million, which is 12,000 persons less than last year, and 49,000 less than in the first half of 2008. “Despite such significant reduction in the working age population, the activity rate fell due to even stronger decrease in the numbers of economically active persons, which in the first half of the year stood at 1.85 million, the lowest since 2013”, say the analysts.
In turn, this shows that significant positive developments in the labour market will not happen this year. They will remain subdued, in accordance with the slow economic recovery, and will also remain under pressure from economic emigration and negative demographic trends. Analysts also point out that, with such dynamics, Croatian labour market will this year remain among those with worst indicators in comparison with other EU member states. Compared to EU averages, Croatia currently lags even more than it did in 2008.
