At the end of August 2026, there were 63,196 unemployed persons registered.

That is as many as 12,299 fewer than in the same month last year, or a decline of 16.3 percent. This is shown by the latest data from the Croatian Employment Service, published in the August bulletin.

Compared with July, however, the number of unemployed increased by 1,132 persons, or 1.8 percent. The annual and monthly comparison therefore do not tell exactly the same story because the number of unemployed changes during the year also due to the season, the end of contracts, and the start and end of tourism jobs.

Not everyone found a job

During August, 9,236 persons registered, which is 4.7 percent fewer than a year earlier. At the same time, 8,104 persons left the register, and 4,884 of them found a job or started another business activity. Most of those employed entered into fixed-term employment.

Another 3,220 persons were removed from the register for other reasons, including deregistration, leaving the labor force, and failure to comply with legal obligations. This means that the decline in the number registered with the CES is not equal to the number of newly employed. The register also does not include all people who do not have a job, but only those who are registered with the Service.

Employers are still looking for workers

The annual decline in unemployment may be driven by higher employment, a smaller number of new registrations, labor shortages, demographic changes, and the departure of part of the working-age population. In August, 18,429 job vacancies were registered, most in education, healthcare, industry, construction, and trade. However, the number of registered vacancies was 2.2 percent lower than in August last year.

In conclusion, the 16.3 percent decline in registered unemployment is a strong and important figure, but it does not automatically mean that all 12,299 people found a job. For a real picture of the labor market, it is necessary to monitor together employment, removals from the register, the number of job vacancies, and population trends.