Data from the national statistical office (DZS) shows that there were 1,515,174 employed persons in the country at the end of March, an annual increase of 0.5%.
In mid-March Croatia introduced restrictions to step up the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, which has caused a decrease in monthly employment figures for trades and freelance professions and an increase in the number of the unemployed.
Statistics show that at the end of March the number of workers in legal entities, which employ the largest number of workers, rose mildly on the month while in trades and freelance professions it dropped by more than one percent.
According to DZS data, at the end of March legal entities employed 1,314,034 persons, 0.1% up or 1,309 more employees than at the end of February this year and 0.7% more than in March 2019.
Month-on-month, the number of employees in the real estate sector rose the most, by 1.2%, to 9,220 employees.
The number of workers dropped the most in the catering industry and tourism, by 3.3% to 67,000.
A total of 181,959 people worked in trades or as freelancers at the end of March, which is 1.1% down from February.
According to figures from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), at the end of March there were 143,461 job-seekers, which is 5,484 or 4% more than in February. Year-on-year, the number of job-seekers dropped by 1.6%.
The registered unemployment rate in March stood at 8.6%, 0.3 pp more than in February.
The number of job-seekers continued rising in April as well, and according to daily figures available on the HZZ website, there are currently more than 155,000 job-seekers, so the registered unemployment rate is expected to continue growing.