In June 2018, Croatia was again among the European Union member countries with the largest unemployment decrease year-on-year, but remained among those with the highest unemployment rates month-on-month, according to figures released by Eurostat.

The EU28 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.9 percent in June 2018, remaining stable compared to May 2018, and at the lowest level since May 2008.

Eurostat estimated that 17.1 million men and women in the EU28 were unemployed in June 2018. Compared to May 2018, the number of persons unemployed increased by 4,000. Compared with June 2017, unemployment fell by 1.6 million.

The highest unemployment rates in June across the EU were registered in Greece (20.2 percent according to most recent data collected in April) and Spain (15.2 percent).

Croatia’s unemployment rate in June inched up to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent in May. Eurostat’s report showed that 166,000 people were jobless in the country, or 1,000 more than in May. Compared with June 2017, the number of jobless people decreased by 36,000.

For the eighth month running, Croatia was among the countries with the largest year-on-year falls in unemployment rate, by 1.9 percentage points. The largest year-on-year decreases were registered in Cyprus (from 11.0 percent to 8.2 percent) and Portugal (from 9.1 percent to 6.7 percent).

The lowest unemployment rates in June 2018 were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.4 percent) and Germany (3.4 percent).

In June 2018, 3.415 million young persons under the age of 25 were unemployed in the EU28, putting the youth unemployment rate in the bloc at 15.2 percent. Compared with June 2017, youth unemployment dropped by 386,000.

Croatia only reports quarterly youth unemployment data. In the second quarter of 2018, the youth unemployment rate was 22.7 percent, with 35,000 jobless youths under the age of 25, or 3,000 less than in Q1 2018.

In June 2018, the lowest youth unemployment rates were observed in Malta (5.5 percent), Germany (6.2 percent) and the Netherlands (7.2 percent), while the highest were recorded in Greece (42.3 percent in April 2018), Spain (34.1 percent) and Italy (32.6 percent).

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.