ZAGREB, February 26, 2018 – Slightly more than 1.3 million people in Croatia were in work at the end of January 2018, which is 8,079 people or 0.6% fewer than in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) said on Monday.
The number of people in employment was down for the sixth consecutive month, which is in line with seasonal trends as employment normally starts to increase in the spring months and falls at the end of summer tourist season.
A total of 1,337,303 people were in work in January 2018. Of them, 1,138,869 were employed in legal entities, which is 0.4% fewer than at the end of December 2017. Some 179,000 worked in crafts, a decrease of 1.9%, and 19,425 in agriculture, down 0.3%.
The number of employees fell in 15 of 19 activities month on month. The largest decrease (-6.6%) was recorded in the hospitality sector and the largest increase (+4.1%) in construction.
Year on year, a fall in employment was recorded in 12 of 19 activities. The largest decrease was recorded in administrative and support service activities (-4.7%), and the largest increase in employment was observed in public administration and defence, and compulsory social security (+4.5).
Compared with January 2017, the number of people in employment in legal entities fell by 0.4%.
The number of job seekers registered with the Croatian Employment Service at the end of January 2018 was 195,400, an increase of 8,037 or 4.3% over December 2017.
The registered unemployment rate was 12.7%, up 0.5 percentage points.
