Job vacancy rate increased slightly in Croatia in the last three months of 2017 compared to the previous quarter, while it remained unchanged in the European Union as a whole, Eurostat said on Monday (March 19).

In Croatia, the seasonally unadjusted job vacancy rate in the period from October to December 2017 was 1.6 percent, slightly up from 1.5 in the three months prior, and up from 1.4 percent in the same quarter of 2016. By sector, the rate was 1.3 percent in services and 1.6 in manufacturing and construction.

The job vacancy rate reflects the relationship between supply and demand in the job market, and points to potential mismatches between skills of unemployed people and those sought by employers. Higher rates indicate unmet demand for labour.

The vacancy rate for the 28 EU member countries was 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, unchanged from the preceding quarter, and in the euro zone it was also 2.0 percent, up from 1.9 percent in the third quarter.

In both the EU and euro zone, the unmet demand for labour in the service sector was 2.3 percent, and followed by the manufacturing and construction sector at 1.8 and 1.7 percent respectively.

By country, the highest job vacancy rate was in the Czech Republic (4.4 percent), followed by Belgium (3.4 percent), Germany (2.8 percent), the Netherlands and the UK (both at 2.6 percent). The lowest rates were in Greece (0.1 percent), Spain (0.7 percent), Bulgaria and Portugal (0.8 percent). In year-on-year terms, the Czech Republic also had the biggest gain, growing by 1.4 points compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.