In November, the total number of job seekers increased by 2,585 to 263,226 and the unemployment rate remained at 3.5%. That is 6,039 more when compared to the same period of 2022. The unemployment rate increased to 3.1% for men, and remained at 3.9% for women.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded in 56 districts, with the highest increases in the districts of Jindřichův Hradec (by 10.0%), Jeseník (by 9.3%), Klatovy (by 7.2%), Strakonice (by 6.8%), Znojmo (by 6.6%), Chrudim (by 6.5%), Písek (by 6.5%) and Bruntál (by 6.3%).
The conflicting trends that we are seeing on the labour market have been reflected in the stagnant unemployment rate. On the one hand, the economy faces problems that are manifested in the continuing decline in GDP, lower contract volumes, lower purchasing power and weaker household consumption. Moreover, the end of the year is often the date of termination of many fixed-term contracts, as well as agreements to complete a job and agreements to perform work. On the other hand, before Christmas, the demand is traditionally growing in sectors such as retail, e-commerce, logistics and warehousing. In Randstad’s recent survey, companies indicated that despite the weaker demand, they wanted to keep their employees rather than to seek new employees on the overheated labour market in the future after the economy recovers. For the same reason, most of them increased their employees’ salaries this year. Further developments depend on which factors will prevail – the effects of decreasing inflation and the confidence in the economy growth, or fear and uncertainty related to growing electricity and gas prices due to an increase in their regulated component.
As at 30 November 2023, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 278,708 vacancies. That is 1,788 fewer than in the previous month and 13,262 fewer than in November 2022. On average, there were 0.9 job seekers per vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (9.8), Bruntál (7.2), Jeseník (5.2), Děčín (4.6), Most (4.0), Opava (3.6), Blansko (3.5) and Ústí nad Labem (3.4).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached only 2.9% in the Czech Republic in October, as compared to 6.0% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 2.9%, compared to 6.0% in the EU27.
In the 3rd quarter of 2023, the average gross nominal monthly salary* (hereinafter “average salary”) was CZK 42,658, which is CZK 2,810 (7.1%) higher than in the same period in 2022. Consumer prices increased by 8.0% during this period, and real wages decreased by 0.8% as a result. The amount of salaries increased by 7.5%, and the number of employees grew by 0.4%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter of 2023.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 37,492) increased by 7.1%, which corresponds to CZK 40,153 for men and CZK 34,705 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 19,835 and CZK 66,998.
source: MPSV, ČSÚ,
ec.europa.eu
*calculated to the number of employees in the national economy