In July, the number of job seekers grew by 9,141 to a total of 258,933, and the unemployment rate increased to 3.5%. That is 18,227 more when compared to the same period of 2022. The unemployment rate of men and women increased to 3.0% and 4.1%, respectively.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded in 76 districts, with the highest increases in the districts of Zlín (by 10.6%), Chrudim (by 9.5%), Rychnov nad Kněžnou (by 9.5%), Pelhřimov (by 9.4%), Klatovy (by 8.2%), Jihlava (by 7.5%), Jindřichův Hradec (by 7.4%) and Prostějov (by 7.1%).
In July, after several months of decrease, the unemployment rate surprisingly increased, although the Czech labour market is still overheated, seasonal work is at its peak and companies report a great demand for employees. There are several factors behind the increase:
The seasonal fluctuation in summer is caused by the influx of secondary school and university graduates. They enjoy their last summer holidays and start working as late as in September when they lose their student status. This also applies to other job seekers, who often take the remaining annual leave at the previous employer and don’t start at their new employers until autumn. The increase in the unemployment rate may also be affected by the company-wide annual leaves, which put recruitment of new employees on hold. The outflow of Ukrainian workers, caused by the new Lex Ukraine 5 legislation regulating support for Ukrainian refugees, also played a significant role. We can see a similar trend in Western Europe, where the unemployment rate would grow even faster if not for the Ukrainian refugees on the labour market.
As of 31 July 2023, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 285,627 vacancies. That is 1,063 fewer than in the previous month and 27,623 fewer than in July 2022. On average, there were 0.9 job seekers per vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (10.2), Bruntál (5.1), Most (4.4), Ústí nad Labem (3.6), Děčín (3.4), Opava (3.2), Louny (3.2) and Jeseník (3.2).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate in June, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached only 2.7% in the Czech Republic, as compared to 5.7% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 2.7%, compared to 5.9% in the EU27.
In the 1st quarter of 2023, the average gross monthly nominal salary*) (hereinafter “average salary”) reached CZK 41,265, which is CZK 3,265 (8.6%) more than in the same period in 2022. Consumer prices increased by 16.4% during that period, and the real salary consequently decreased by 6.7%. The amount of salaries increased by 9.8%, and the number of employees grew by 1.1%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 2.2% during the 1st quarter of 2023.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 34,741) increased by 8.9%, equalling CZK 37,696 for men and CZK 31,856 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 18,601 and CZK 65,512.
*calculated to the number of employees in the national economy
source: MPSV, ČSÚ, ec.europa.eu