EMPLOYMENT RATE IN CROATIA - 53.6%

ZAGREB, Dec 10 (Hina) - Compared to the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Croatia is at the bottom of a 1999 employment scale. At the same time, the country's unemployment rate places it at the top of the scale which includes 28 countries. According to a Croatian Employment Bureau bulletin, with an unemployment rate of 13.9 percent Croatia is almost at the top of the scale, right after Spain. Other countries with high unemployment rates are Italy and France (slightly less than 12%) and Finland (just above 10%). According to the employment rate, which is calculated as the share of employed persons in the working age population and which varies between 84.2 percent in Iceland and 51.9 percent in Turkey, Croatia is between Spain and Italy with 53.6 percent. According to the employment rate of its male population, Croatia is at the bottom with 59.2 percent and 23rd according to the employment rate of the female population - 48.3%. Data on the structure of employment by branches show that Croatia is at the top according to the share of employment in agriculture, in the upper half according to the number of employed in industry and at the bottom of the scale according to the number of employed in services. With 54.8 percent of white-collar workers in the overall working population Croatia is in the middle of the lower half of the scale and according to the number of blue-collar workers it is in the upper part of the scale with 36.3 percent. International comparisons of employment rates are carried out in line with the International Labour Organisation regulations, under which a person is employed if he/she works at least an hour for money or compensation in kind or for family benefit during the monitored period. According to these regulations, a person is unemployed if in the monitored period he/she did not work or actively sought a job or was willing to start working in two weeks' time. (hina) rml