Based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology, in February seasonally adjusted unemployment in Croatia was 18.5%, the same level recorded in the month before, Eurostat says. Compared with February the year before however, Croatia registered the largest increase of 1.2 percentage points.
Eurostat estimates the there were 353,000 Croatian citizens unemployed in February, one thousand more on the month and 31,000 more year on year.
Croatia is listed among those countries with the highest unemployment rates, after Greece with 26% recorded in December 2014 and Spain with 23.2%.
The lowest unemployment rates were once again recorded in Austria and Germany with 5.3% and 4.8% respectively.
Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate in February 2015 fell in 22 Member States and increased in six Member States. The largest decreases on the year were registered in Estonia (8.4% to 6.2%), Ireland (12.1% to 9.9%) and Bulgaria (12.3% to 10.2%). The largest increases were registered in Croatia (17.3% to 18.5%), Cyprus (15.6% to 16.3%) and Finland (8.4% to 9.1%).
Eurostat estimates that 23.887 million people were unemployed in the EU. Compared with January 2015, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 91,000 in the EU. Compared with February 2014, unemployment fell by 1.547 million in the EU.
In February 2015, there 4.850 million young persons (under 25) who were unemployed in the EU. Youth unemployment decreased by 494,000 in the EU on the year. In February 2015, the youth unemployment rate was 21.1% in the EU. The lowest youth unemployment rates were observed in Germany (7.2%), Austria (9.0%) and Denmark (10.2%), and the highest in Greece (51.2% in December 2014), Spain (50.7%), Croatia (46.4% in the fourth quarter 2014) and Italy (42.6%).