Activities on Economic Recovery in Croatia, With Particular Attention to the Labour Market

Prilog je posvećen opisu aktivnosti na ublažavanju gospodarske krize, s posebnim naglaskom na tržište rada. Analiziraju se najvažnija kretanja te odrednice zaposlenosti i nezaposlenosti u posljednjih pet godina u cilju spoznavanja njihovog učinka i mogućeg poboljšanja stanja. U radu se spominje kako je Vlada Republike Hrvatske usvojila Odluku o mjerama za gospodarski oporavak i razvitak, ali se ne ulazi u njihovu konačnu ocjenu jer bi to trebao biti predmet nekog novog istraživanja. Prilog se sastoji iz četiri dijela. U prvom se obrazlažu gospodarska kretanja u Republici Hrvatskoj koja je u razdoblju od 2005. do 2007. godine karakterizirao značajan rast, dok su se u 2008. godini gospodarske aktivnosti počele usporavati. Drugo poglavlje posvećeno je značajnom utjecaju krize na tržište rada te je uslijedilo smanjivanje broja zaposlenih i povećanje broja nezaposlenih. Republika Hrvatska ionako ima razmjerno niske stope aktivnosti i zaposlenosti, pogotovo za žene, mlade i starije osobe. Politika i mjere za rješavanje problema predmet su trećeg poglavlja gdje se pozornost posvećuje aktivnostima u ekonomskoj i socijalnoj politici te mjerama tržišta rada. Završno, četvrto poglavlje obrađuje pitanja daljnjeg gospodarskog razvoja Hrvatske s posebnom pozornošću prema prioritetima politike zapošljavanja.The text is dedicated to the description of activities on economic recovery in Croatia, with particular attention to the labour market. Most important trends and determinants of employment and unemployment in the last five years are analysed with the goal to get an insight into their impact and possible improvement. While Decision on economic recovery and development prepared by the Government of Croatia is mentioned, the authors do not attempt to provide its final evaluation because this is a topic for some new survey. The paper consists of four sections. In Section 1 the economic situation in Croatia in the period from 2005 to 2007 is explained as the one characterized by a significant annual growth of gross domestic product, while in 2008 economic activity started decelerating as a consequence of the global economic crisis. Section 2 explains the impact of the crisis on the labour market. While unemployment decreased in pre-crisis period, since 2008 there has been a constant decrease in the number of the employed and an increase in the number of the unemployed. Croatia has a relatively low activity and employment rate, particularly for women, youth and older persons. Policy responses to the crisis are the topic of the Section 3, which focuses on economic and social policies, as well as labour market policies. The final section deals with the issues of further economic development of Croatia, primarily with priorities in employment policy