In October, the number of job seekers decreased by 1,902 to a total of 289,003, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8%. That is 28,362 more when compared to the same period of 2023. The unemployment rate remained 4.3% for women and 3.4% for men.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded in 33 districts, highest in the districts - Jeseník (by 9.0 %), České Budějovice (by 2.7 %), Jindřichův Hradec (by 2.3 %), Plzeň-město (by 1.8 %), Český Krumlov (by 1.8 %), Třebíč (by 1.8 %), Beroun (by 1.4 %), Jihlava (by 1.3 %).
Unemployment dropped slightly in October, which can be attributed to a hiring surge before the Christmas season, especially in the e-commerce, logistics and retail sectors. After the summer break, companies also started to recruit more intensively to avoid the more challenging hiring period in January. Some companies have already set aside a budget for these seasonal positions and aim to finalise hiring by the end of the year. These trends have also overcome the redundancies that more than a fifth of manufacturing and logistics companies have made due to the economic situation in Germany.
We expect unemployment to fluctuate in the coming months, with a temporary increase in the period after the New Year, when companies finish seasonal hiring and reassess their staffing needs for the new year.
As at 31 October 2024, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 265,972 vacancies. That is 1,318 more than in the previous month and 14,524 fewer than in October 2023. On average, there was 1.1 job seeker per vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (10.5), Děčín (6.5), Bruntál (6.2), Hodonín (5.7), Most (4.4), Jablonec nad Nisou (4.1), Jeseník (4.0), Sokolov (3,8).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached 3.0% in the Czech Republic in September, as compared to 5.8% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 2.8%, compared to 5.9% in the EU27.
In the 2nd quarter of 2024, the average gross nominal monthly salary* (hereinafter “average salary”) was CZK 45,854, which is CZK 2,797 (6.5%) higher than in the same period in 2023. Consumer prices increased by 2.5% during this period, and real wages increased by 3.9% as a result. The amount of salaries increased by 6.5%, and the number of employees grew by 0.04%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter of 2024.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 38,529) increased by 5.8%, which corresponds to CZK 41,540 for men and CZK 35,565 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 20,652 and CZK 75,570.
source: MPSV, ČSÚ,
ec.europa.eu
* calculated to the number of employees in the national economy