Unemployment drops 4.5 pct

At the end of March 2016, 276,406 persons were registered with the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), down 4.5 percent on the month and 13.4% on the year, and the unemployment decrease continued in April, with 269,025 persons registered with the HZZ today.

March 2016 was the second consecutive month in which unemployment decreased month on month, having increased since August 2015.

Survey unemployment in the last quarter of 2015 was 16.1%, down 2.2 percentage points from Q4 2014 but up 0.7 pp from Q3 2015, the national statistical office said on Monday based on a workforce survey using the International Labour Organisation methodology.

According to the survey based on HZZ data, there were 304,000 jobless in Q4 2015, 43,000 fewer than in Q4 2014, and 1.58 million persons employed, 45,000 fewer than in Q3 2015 but 32,000 more than in Q4 2014.

The employment rate in Q4 2015 was 44%, down from 45.3% in Q3 2015 but up from 43% in Q4 2014.

According to the survey, the working-age population in Q4 2015 stood at 3.59 million, including 1.88 million economically active and 1.71 million economically inactive. The activity rate in Q4 2015 was 52.5%, as against 53.5% in Q3 2015 and 52.6% in Q4 2014.

(Text: Hina)

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