Slovenia’s jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 13.4% in March, the first decrease since September 2012, the Slovenia Times reported Friday citing data from the Statistics Office. The active population rose by 1,200 to over 790,000 in March, according to the official data. Despite the good news, the Ljubljana-based statistics agency said the increase was likely of a seasonal nature, as a similar trend was recorded in the spring and summer of 2012, only for unemployment to spike in the autumn. The March jobless rate was therefore still 1.4% higher than in the same month a year ago, while the number of people in active employment was down 25,000. The unemployment rate dropped in all age categories except for the 35-39 years group, where it remained flat.
