Croatia's May unemployment rate same as euro area average

The EU seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3% in May 2021, down from 7.4% in April 2021 and up from 6.9% in May 2020. The euro area rate was 7.9%, down from 8.1% in April 2021 and up from 7.5% in May 2020.

Eurostat estimates that 15.278 million men and women in the EU, of whom 12.792 million in the euro area, were unemployed in May 2021. Compared with April 2021, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 382,000 in the EU and by 306,000 in the euro area. Compared with May 2020, unemployment rose by 949,000 in the EU and by 803,000 million in the euro area.

The highest unemployment rates were registered in Greece and Spain, of 15.4% and 15.3% respectively, while the lowest rates were observed in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, of 3.3%.

In Croatia, the unemployment rate in May was 7.9%, up by 0.2 percentage points from April. The same rate was recorded in Latvia, while Ireland and Finland had rates of 7.8%.

According to Eurostat, 142,000 Croatian citizens were out of work in May, up by 5,000 from April and by 14,000 from May last year.

Youth unemployment

In May 2021, 2.979 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.403 million were in the euro area. In May 2021, the youth unemployment rate was 17.3% in the EU and 17.5% in the euro area, down from 18.2% and 18.4% respectively in the previous month.

Compared with April 2021, youth unemployment decreased by 174,000 in the EU and by 138,000 in the euro area. Compared with May 2020, youth unemployment increased by 119,000 in the EU and by 70,000 in the euro area.

The highest youth unemployment rates were registered in Greece (49.8%), Spain (38.1%) and Italy (31.7%), while the lowest rates were recorded in Malta (7.4%), the Czech Republic and Germany (both 7.5%) and the Netherlands (8.7%).

Croatia is not required to submit monthly reports on youth unemployment. In the first quarter of the year, youth unemployment rate in the country was 20.8% as 29,000 young people were unemployed.