ZAGREB, February 1, 2019 - Croatia's labour market is recovering unevenly by region but the number of the jobless is decreasing faster than the number of people with jobs is increasing, which is a reflection of emigration and demographic trends, according to a Chamber of Commerce (HGK) labour market analysis.
The jobless are more inclined towards emigration, and lower birth-rates result in smaller pressure on the employment office and this impacts the population, which is decreasing in nearly every county, the analysis shows.
As with other macroeconomic indicators, the labour market is different when broken down by region, as are the speed and duration of recovery after the economic crisis which lasted several years in every county, the HGK says.
The year 2017 saw a labour market recovery both at national and county levels. That year 11 counties recorded lower unemployment than in 2008, the year before the crisis.
Although in 20 counties there were fewer jobless than in 2008, only four counties recorded a simultaneous rise in the number of persons employed. This means that the decrease of unemployment was faster than the growth of employment, which was related to demographic and emigration trends, the HGK says.
Favourable trends in unemployment began sooner than in employment, so the continuous decrease of unemployment began in most counties four years ago and every county recorded a decrease over the past three years.
Bjelovar-Bilogora, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Osijek-Baranja and Lika-Senj were the counties in which recovery began in 2015. In 2017, annual drops in unemployment exceeded 20% in ten counties, the largest were recorded in the counties of Krapina-Zagorje (-28.6%), Varaždin (-28.3%) and Koprivnica-Križevci (-27.6%).
Those three counties recorded the largest unemployment drops in the past three years as well, above 50%. The slowest decreases were recorded in the counties of Lika-Senj (-28.1%), Dubrovnik-Neretva (-28.7%) and Šibenik-Knin (-29.4%). Dubrovnik-Neretva was the only county which had more jobless in 2017 than in 2008.
In 2017, 11 counties had lower unemployment rates than in 2008, with Karlovac and Zadar counties recording the biggest differences.
More news on the emigration from Croatia can be found in the Politics section.
