In June 2018, there were over 1.43 million persons employed in Croatia, up 1.7 percent on the month, and unemployment dropped to a record low 8.8 percent, the national statistical office said on Thursday.

At the end of June, 138,383 persons were registered with the Employment Service, down 2.5 percent on the month. The unemployment rate dropped for the fifth consecutive month to 8.8 percent from 9.2 in May this year.

Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) analysts commented on the report, saying that, although the continuing drop in unemployment is encouraging, it is primarily the result of the longer summer season.

“A fall in unemployment is not followed by a proportionate rise in employment, and the problems of Croatian economy, such as the discrepancy of workforce supply and demand and low employment rates, remain a deeply rooted problem which halts the progress of national economy,” RBA said.

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