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Unemployment in Croatia jumped to 14.5 percent in January, data showed on Friday, suggesting the global crisis was hurting the small Balkan economy more than officials had previously predicted. Source: ReutersThe number of unemployed rose to 254,000 from 240,455, lifting the jobless rate from 13.7 percent in December and up from a trough of 12.3 percent last August.The national Association of Employers, HUP said this week about 150 people were laid off every day in the European Union candidate country, whose economy is expected to contract this year for the first time in a decade.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader rejected an emergency package proposed by economists, which called for an urgent cut in public spending, saying the government might rebalance the budget only in the second quarter of the year.Analysts said the delay in implementing spending cuts and reforms would only deepen the crisis and might make it likely the country could turn to the International Monetary Fund for help.