"There are obviously still speculations about that magic number. I have just received the figure of 334,378 people registered with the Croatian Employment Service," Popijac said while responding to questions from the press after a meeting with his Polish counterpart Waldemar Pawlak.

This is the first official figure on the number of unemployed people in Croatia in June, since the HZZ did not specify the figure in its 12-page report on Tuesday.

The figure given by Minister Popijac differed from the figure of 334,327 registered job seekers which was calculated by journalists themselves based on data released by the HZZ on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Independent Trade Unions (HNS) requested an emergency meeting with the government and the employers over "the alarming number of unemployed people" in the country.