In March, the total number of job seekers decreased by 9,030 to 273,478 and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7%. That is 20,605 more when compared to the same period of 2022. The fraction of unemployed men and women dropped down to 3.4% and 4.1%, respectively.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded only in three districts, namely the districts of Trutnov (by 1.3%), Most (by 0.7%) and Brno-city (by 0.4%).
After nine months, the unemployment rate decreased again. The main reason for this is the gradually improving economic situation which enabled the thus-far hesitant companies to start recruiting again. According to the Randstad HR Trends 2023 survey, 35% of companies plan to increase the number of employees – primarily in their manufacturing or technical departments; employees are being recruited especially in the fields of mechanical engineering, logistics, sales and IT. Marketing, IT and manufacturing will likely experience a lack of qualified candidates. Optimistic forecasts regarding the development of the economic situation indicate a further decrease in the unemployment rate in the coming months. Moreover, seasonal work at castles, chateaux, in restaurants, tourism, agriculture and construction is about to begin.
As of 31 March 2023, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 284,525 vacancies. That is 1,428 more than in the previous month and 75,643 fewer than in March 2022. On average, there was one applicant for each vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (10.9), Bruntál (5.9), Most (4.9), Jeseník (3.8), Ústí nad Labem (3.7), Opava (3.7), Děčín (3.6) and Sokolov (3.2).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached only 2.6% in the Czech Republic in February, as compared to 6.3% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 2.4%, compared to 6.0% in the EU27.
In the 4th quarter of 2022, the average gross monthly nominal salary*) (hereinafter “average salary”) reached CZK 43,412, which is CZK 3,188 (7.9%) more than in the same period in 2021. Consumer prices increased by 15.7% during that period, and the real salary consequently decreased by 6.7%. The amount of salaries increased by 8.9%, and the number of employees grew by 0.9%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 2.1% during the 4th quarter of 2022.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 37,463) increased by 9.0%, equalling CZK 40,232 for men and CZK 34,554 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 18,666 and CZK 70,514.
*calculated to the number of employees in the national economy
source: MPSV, ČSÚ, ec.europa.eu