The number of jobs in Croatia's manufacturing industry in October 2021 inched down by 0.4 percent from October 2020, state agency Hina said on Thursday, citing a report released by the state statistics bureau.

Compared with the previous month, the largest drop was in the manufacture of beverages (-3.7 percent) and the largest increase was in the manufacturing of “other transport equipment” (+4.1 percent).

Hina did not report actual numbers of workers employed in manufacturing, or explain what “other transport equipment” means.

But compared to October 2020, the largest decline was reportedly registered in the mining support services sector (-16.0 percent) and the largest increase in “other manufacturing” (+6.3 percent). Neither Hina nor the statistics bureau offered any explanation for the drop.

In terms of year-to-date, the total number of industrial workers in October 2021 was 0.7 percent down from the first ten months of 2020, while at the same time “labor productivity increased by 7.0 percent,” Hina said.

In October 2021, industrial production continued to rise for the 11th month in a row, increasing by 2.7 percent year-on-year, which state statistics bureau said “indicated continued recovery of manufacturing, and the entire economy, from the coronavirus crisis.”