At the end of May this year, 296,438 people were registered with the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), which is 2,237 fewer people or four percent down from the previous month, and 40,169 or 15.7 percent more people than in May 2009.
A total of 28,218 people were removed from unemployment registers in May, which is 5.5 percent more than in the previous month, and 29.6 percent more than in May 2009, the HZZ said on its website.
Of that number, 18,342 people found employment, 8.2 percent more than in the previous month and 28.9 percent more than in May last year, while 9,876 people were removed from HZZ registers for other reasons.
A total of 17,955 people got work contracts, an 8.4 percent increase from April, and a 28.9 percent increase from May last year.
Of the 17,955 newly employed, 6,588 or 36.7 percent found seasonal employment.
In May, 15,981 people registered with the HZZ, 4.7 percent down from the previous month, and 12.1 percent up from May last year. Among those people, 14.6 percent were first-time job-seekers, and 85.4 percent were people with work experience. Of the newly-registered unemployed, 63.9 percent were recently laid off. Most of them came from the retail and wholesale sector (21%), processing industry (18.7 percent) and construction (15.1 percent).
A total of 79,061 unemployed people or 26.7 percent of all job-seekers were receiving unemployment allowance in May, which is a drop of 5.5 percent from the previous month and an increase of 17.3 percent in relation to May 2009.
