BRATISLAVA: The growth in the Slovak economy will produce more jobs in 2017, several Slovak analysts said on Tuesday. The November unemployment rate in Slovakia fell to 8.78 percent. Experts have expected that the unemployment rate would continue to decline in 2017, a trend likely to be bolstered by new jobs in a number of sectors. “It needs to be said that a high number of long-term unemployment remains. Therefore, it’s important to help the long-term unemployed to maintain or even recreate working habits and skills so that they can be hired once a suitable job offer comes along,” said Slovenska Sporitelna analyst Katarina Muchova. According to McRoy Group consulting agency, the market will continue to suffer from a shortage of qualified labour, and companies will seek employees abroad. The same opinion is held by analysts from the Slovak central bank (NBS), adding that employers reported growing difficulties with filling vacancies. “This indicates that actual employment growth might slow down in the future.