There is almost two percent more employed persons than last year.
According to the latest data from the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO), the total number of insured persons in June this year stood at 1.525 million, which continued the positive trend on the monthly and annual level. Compared to May, the total number of employed persons was higher by almost 22,000, which represented the monthly growth of 1.4 percent, reports tportal.hr on 19 July 2017.
At the same time, the number of insured persons in June was about 26,500 higher compared to the same month last year (1.8 percent), which means that the annual growth trend, which started in March 2015, has been continued. The good results were expected after the Central Bureau of Statistics recently announced that the number of employed persons grew by more than 27,000 or 2.0 percent in just a month. Although significant methodological differences do not allow direct comparison of data from these two sources, they do show overall dynamics of employment trends.
According to the National Classification of Professions, the largest contribution to the monthly and annual growth of the number of insured persons in June came from the provision of accommodation and food preparation services, where the number of insured persons increased by 11,221 compared to May (10.4 percent). This sector has also recorded a significant increase in the number of insured persons year-on-year (5,200 or 4.6 percent).
The data demonstrate the usual seasonality in the movement of the total number of employed persons, which is due in large part to the seasonal oscillations in employment trends in two activities (provision of accommodation and food preparation services, and the wholesale and retail sales).
As the end of the main part of the tourist season approaches, the number of insured persons will start to decline at the monthly level. Thus, the labour market remains fragile and is burdened with serious structural problems of supply and demand mismatch, long-term unemployment, and a drop in the share of the potentially active population.
In addition, Croatia, like other European countries, suffers from the process of demographic ageing. There is also substantial emigration of the most productive part of the working-age population, which is a consequence of the easier movement of people in the single EU market, particularly given the conditions of slow and inadequate dynamics of job creation in Croatia. Therefore, finding a solution for the problem in the area of labour market remains an enormous challenge for economic policy decision-makers, both in the short term and in the long term.
