Unemployment dropped 0.5 points among men to 12.1% and by 0.2 points among women to 14.2%, show data from the Statistics Office released on Wednesday.

The unemployment rate edged lower across all age groups. The decline was sharpest in the 15-29 age group, where it dropped by a full point though it is still high at 22.4%.

The active population numbered slightly over 800,000, an increase of 0.4 points over the month before, in a working-age population of almost 920,000.

The uptick appears to be linked largely to seasonal jobs: broken down by industry, the biggest employment gains were registered in unclassified business activities, construction and catering.

Moreover, nearly a third of those registered as newly employed were foreigners who registered their first formal employment in Slovenia.