Eurostat data revealed in late October that Croatia’s 2012 budget deficit was actually equal to 5% of GDP, wider than the earlier announced 3.4% of GDP. This would expectedly trigger the excessive deficit procedure of the European Commission, especially having in mind that this year’s budget gap will also be no less than 4% of GDP. Croatia slipped one place in the latest edition of the World Bank’s Doing Business Report. It marked improvement in three areas only out of ten, making progress in dealing with construction permits, paying taxes and cross-border trading. Croatia’s industrial production decline quickened to 4% in September from 3.5% year on year in August due to a more than 6% year on year drop in manufacturing output, which offset the increase in mining and quarrying and utilities output. The January to September industrial production was down 1.3% year on year. The jobless rate rose to 19.1% in September after dropping to an eleven-month low of 18.4% in August. It was also 0.8pps higher compared to September 2012.