In July , the number of job seekers increased by 10,327 to a total of 283,011, and the unemployment rate increased to 3.8%. That is 24,078 more when compared to the same period of 2023. The unemployment rate of men and women increased to 3.3% and 4.2%, respectively.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded in 75 districts, highest in the districts - Rychnov nad Kněžnou (by 11.0%), Pelhřimov (by 10.8%), Benešov (by 8.9%), Břeclav (by 8.4%), Kutná Hora (by 8.3%), Vyškov (by 8.2%), Jihlava (by 8.2%), Jičín (by 7.9%).
The unemployment rate rose in July as a result of several factors, mainly economic pressures and seasonal effects. Firms traditionally hire less during the summer months because of the holiday season, and demand for seasonal workers is also lower than usual this year. In particular, demand for white-collar workers, especially middle management, remains unusually weak.
Other factors are weak industrial production growth and low foreign demand. The Czech economy grew by only 0.3% quarter-on-quarter and 0.4% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, falling short of economists' expectations. This weaker GDP growth was mainly influenced by lower foreign demand, although domestic demand and household consumption rose slightly. At the same time, cost inflationary pressures are fading, leading to a slight recovery in real household incomes, but consumption is still not close to pre-pandemic levels.
As at 31 July 2024, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 262,026 vacancies. That is 1,526 fewer than in the previous month and 23,601 fewer than in July 2023. On average, there was 1.1 job seeker per vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (10.6), Děčín (5.9), Hodonín (5.8), Bruntál (5.8), Most (4.4), Blansko (4.1), Opava (3.8), Jablonec nad Nisou (3.8).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached 2.8% in the Czech Republic in June, as compared to 5.8% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 2.7%, compared to 6.0% in the EU27.
In the 1st quarter of 2024, the average gross nominal monthly salary* (hereinafter “average salary”) was CZK 43,941, which is CZK 2,884 (7.0%) higher than in the same period in 2023. Consumer prices increased by 2.1% during this period, and real wages increased by 4.8% as a result. The amount of salaries increased by 7.2%, and the number of employees grew by 0.1%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 1.7% during the 1st quarter of 2024.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 36,651) increased by 5.5%, which corresponds to CZK 39,541 for men and CZK 33,793 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 20,753 and CZK 69,219.
source: MPSV, ČSÚ,
ec.europa.eu
* calculated to the number of employees in the national economy