In April, the total number of job seekers decreased by 11,795 to 261,683 and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%. That is 18,025 more when compared to the same period of 2022. The fraction of unemployed men and women dropped down to 3.1% and 4.0%, respectively.
A month-on-month decrease in the unemployment rate was recorded in all 77 districts, with the highest decreases in the districts of Jindřichův Hradec (by 19.4%), Břeclav (by 13.5%), Chrudim (by 13.4%), Jeseník (by 12.6%), Svitavy (by 12.5%), Znojmo (by 11.7%), Třebíč (by 11.7%) and Klatovy (by 11.5%).
The April unemployment rate decreased thanks to a gradual improvement in the economic situation and an increasing willingness of companies to hire employees. Businesses are recruiting both regular employees, especially in manufacturing, and temporary workers, who will find jobs mainly on construction sites and in road construction. Unemployment decreased despite above-average rainfall, which delayed seasonal agricultural work by two weeks. We expect this trend to continue in the coming month thanks to optimistic forecasts coming from the labour market. Moreover, seasonal work is also expected to intensify in castles, chateaux, restaurants, tourism, and agriculture.
As of 30 April 2023, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 284,530 vacancies. That is 5 more than in the previous month and 59,820 less than in April 2022. On average, there were 0.9 applicants for each vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (10.8), Bruntál (5.4), Most (4.8), Ústí nad Labem (3.5), Opava (3.5), Děčín (3.3), Jeseník (3.2) and Žďár nad Sázavou (3.2).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached only 2.6% in the Czech Republic in March, as compared to 6.1% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 2.6%, compared to 6.0% in the EU27.
In the 4th quarter of 2022, the average gross monthly nominal salary*) (hereinafter “average salary”) reached CZK 43,412, which is CZK 3,188 (7.9%) more than in the same period in 2021. Consumer prices increased by 15.7% during that period, and the real salary consequently decreased by 6.7%. The amount of salaries increased by 8.9%, and the number of employees grew by 0.9%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 2.1% during the 4th quarter of 2022.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 37,463) increased by 9.0%, equalling CZK 40,232 for men and CZK 34,554 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 18,666 and CZK 70,514.
*calculated to the number of employees in the national economy
source: MPSV, ČSÚ, ec.europa.eu