In June, Croatia was among the European Union (EU) countries with the largest drop in the unemployment rate on an annual basis, and a fall in the previous year was recorded by all member states, with the exception of Estonia, the latest Eurostat report reported.
In June 2017, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at the EU-28 level was 7.7 per cent as in the month before, according to a report by the EU statistical office, released on Monday. The initial estimate may have been revised down to 0.1 percentage points, quoted in Eurostat.
This is at the EU level at the lowest level since December 2008. It is down 0.9 percentage points year-on-year.
In June, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Croatia slipped to 10.6 percent, from 10.8 percent in the previous month and from 13.3 percent last June. The number of unemployed persons has decreased by about four thousand in relation to May and around 55 thousand compared to the same period last year.
The higher unemployment rate fell from Croatia on an annual level only to Spain, where the unemployment rate fell to 17.1 percent, from 19.9 percent in June last year. Although severely reduced, the unemployment rate in Spain, the fourth largest eurozone economy, remains among the highest in the EU, with Greece accounting for 21.7 percent in April.
The drop in unemployment rates is recorded by all EU member states, except for Estonia, where it increased to 6.9 percent in May 2017, from 6.5 percent in May last year, according to Eurostat’s report.
The lowest rates recorded the Czech Republic, 2.9 percent, Germany, 3.8 percent, and Malta, 4.1 percent.
Eurostat estimates that in June there were 18,725 million unemployed in the EU, of which 14,718 million in the eurozone. At a monthly level, their number decreased by 183,000 in the EU and by 148,000 in the eurozone, and on annual terms in the EU was lower by 2,368 million and in the eurozone by 1,667 million.
As a result, the unemployment rate in the eurozone in June 2017 slid to 9.1 percent, the lowest level since February 2009, from the revised 9.2 percent in May. The initial estimate for May, as well as at EU level, is revised down by 0.1 percentage points, quoted in Eurostat.
At an annual level in the 19-member economy, the unemployment rate is reduced by a percentage point.
Falling unemployment rate among young people – the unemployment rate among young people at EU level in June was 16.7 percent, and in the eurozone 18.7 percent, after stagnation in May to 16.9 percent and 19 percent. In June 2016, the EU was 18.8 and in the eurozone 21 percent.
In June 2017, 3.710 million unemployed persons under the age of 25 were registered, of which 2,588 million in the eurozone.
At their annual level, their number was reduced by 586,000 in the EU and by 399,000 in the eurozone.
The highest unemployment rate among young people was recorded by Greece, from 45.5 percent in April this year. Following are Spain, with 39.2 percent, and Italy, the third largest eurozone economy, with 35.4 percent, Eurostat said. In Croatia, this rate was 25.9 percent in June.
Source: Eurostat