Unemployment rate in Croatia in April 2021 was 7.5 percent, up from 7.1 percent in March, Eurostat sata released on Tuesday showed. The unemployment rate remained unchanged from March in the EU as a whole, and stood at 7.3 percent. In the euro zone - group of 19 EU countries using the euro as their currency - unemployment rate was 8.0 percent, slightly down from 8.1 percent in March.

A year ago, in April 2020, unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in the EU and at 7.3 percent in the euro zone. A total of 15.4 million people were jobless in the EU in April, including 13 million in the euro zone. Compared to March, their number dropped by 165,000 in the EU and by 134,000 in the euro zone.

Compared to April 2020, the number of jobless increased by 1.406 million in the EU, and by 1.275 million in the euro zone.

Unemployment rate highest in Spain

According to Eurostat, Spain had the highest unemployment rate in April, of 15.4 percent, followed by Italy, with 10.7 percent, and Cyprus, with 9.4 percent. Croatia posted a 7.5 percent unemployment rate, up from 7.1 percent in March. A total of 132,000 people were jobless in Croatia in April, 6,000 up from March. Compared to April 2020, the number of jobless persons was down by 8,000.

The lowest unemployment rates across the 27-country bloc were reported by Poland, 3.1 percent, followed by the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, with the unemployment rate of 3.4 percent each.

Youth unemployment rates unchanged

In the under-25 age group, the unemployment rate in the EU and the euro zone in April was at 17.1 percent and 17.2 percent respectively. There were 2.9 million unemployed young people in the EU27, including 2.3 million in the euro zone.

Compared to March, the number of young job-seekers dropped by 21,000 in the EU and by 18,000 in the euro zone. Compared to April 2020, the number of young job-seekers grew by 211,000 in the EU and by 125,000 in the euro zone.

Spain had the highest youth unemployment rate, of 38.0 percent, followed by Italy, with 33.7 percent.

Croatia only reports quarterly data on youth unemployment – in Q1 2021 the unemployment rate among people younger than 25 was 20.6 percent, with 29,000 young Croatians out of work.