(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 20 MAR - The state of the labour markets in the Western Balkans continued to improve between the second quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018, but at a slower pace than a year earlier, the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW) and the World Bank (WB) said in the new report 'Western Balkans Labor Market Trends 2019'.

At the same time the GDP growth in the region increased from 2.5 percent in 2017 to 3.9 percent in 2018, WIIW and WB underlined. According to the report, about 68,000 new jobs were generated between the second quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018, compared to 231,000 a year earlier, with Albania and Montenegro reporting the strongest job growth in the region (3.3%), followed by North Macedonia (2.1% increase).

In the same period, unemployment reached new historic lows in most Western Balkan countries, WIIW and WB said, noting that challenges remain in particular for women, youth and less educated workers. The rate fall in average from 16.2 percent to 15.3 percent over the last year, with country rates ranging from around 12 percent in Serbia and Albania to 29 percent in Kosovo, the highest in the region.

"Improvements in labor market performance are encouraging, but the decelerating trend raises some concerns," said Linda Van Gelder, World Bank Director for the Western Balkans. (ANSA).