Croatia Unemployment Worst For 4 Years

Croatia's unemployment rate reached 17.7 percent of the workforce at the end of January -- its highest level in the Balkan country in four years, the national statistics institute DZS said on Monday.

The number of registered unemployed was around 310,000 by the end of January, some 6.0 percent more then in December 2009. Officials say unemployment will reach its peak in the first quarter of 2010 before stabilising in the second quarter.

"The unemployment will continue to rise in February and March, but we can expect this tendency to halt in the second quarter of 2010, with a start of seasonal employment," analyst Zdeslav Santic was quoted by local media as saying.

The economy is expected to have contracted by around six percent last year and analysts forecast a negative tendency in the first quarter of 2010.

Croatia GDP for 2009 was yet to be published, but analysts estimate it would reach around 6.0 percent.