In February, the number of job seekers increased by 5,707 to a total of 326,223, and the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%. That is 30,116 more when compared to the same period of 2024.
Among the districts, unemployment was highest in the districts of Most, Karviná and Bruntál (over 8%), and lowest in the capital and in the districts of Praha-východ, Praha-západ, Rychnov nad Kněžnou, Pelhřimov and Benešov (less than 3%). A month-on-month decrease in the unemployment rate was not recorded in any districts.
The unemployment rate increased in February, in line with the annual trend. The main reason for this is the higher level of caution among companies in relation to the economic situation on the labour market. Companies are trying to find savings and balance costs, so they are not filling the positions vacated by the leavings of employees. This approach is evident across different sectors, with companies preferring to wait for the situation to stabilise and for the first quarter to play out. Seasonal influences also play a role. In sectors such as construction, agriculture and tourism, demand drops during the winter months. Technological change, particularly automation, is increasing the pressure on low-skilled workers, especially in sectors with higher levels of automation. This highlights the need for government and regional strategies to upskill and retrain the workforce to better adapt to changing labour market demands.
Another key factor is the stagnation in key export markets, especially Germany, which is our important trading partner. The situation in its automotive industry is particularly worrying, with a direct impact on domestic suppliers and manufacturers.
Only the next few months will determine whether companies will resort to more recruitment or continue to maintain current levels. According to the HR Trends 2025 survey, 25% of companies plan to increase headcount this year, while 14% expect layoffs. However, the majority of companies (62%) are not planning any changes.
As at the end of February, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 88,062 vacancies. That is 4,739 more than in the previous month. On average, there were 3.7 applicants per vacancy, with the highest number of applicants in the districts of Karviná (27.1), Děčín (15.2), Sokolov (14.3), Hodonín (13.3), Bruntál (11.6).
This year's data on the number of job vacancies registered by the Czech Labour Office are not comparable with older statistics, due to a change in the system of their registration, job offers older than six months are now automatically removed from the database.
In the 4th quarter of 2024, the average gross nominal monthly salary* (hereinafter “average salary”) was CZK 49,229, which is CZK 3,322 (7.2%) higher than in the same period in 2023. Consumer prices increased by 2.9% during this period, and real wages increased by 4.2% as a result. The amount of salaries increased by 7.4%, 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 4th quarter of 2024.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 41,739) increased by 4.2%, which corresponds to CZK 45,004 for men and CZK 38,643 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 21,577 and CZK 80,431.
source: MPSV, ČSÚ
* calculated to the number of employees in the national economy