In December, the number of job seekers grew by 16,001 to a total of 279,227, and the unemployment rate increased to 3.7%. That is 7,424 more when compared to the same period of 2022. The unemployment rate of men and women increased to 3.4% and 4.0%, respectively.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded in 76 districts, with the highest increases in the districts of Prachatice (by 26.5%), Jindřichův Hradec (by 23.3%), Chrudim (by 18.8%), Břeclav (by 18.1%), Klatovy (by 18.0%), Třebíč (by 16.0%), Semily (by 15.5%) and Jeseník (by 15.5%).
The unemployment rate increased in the last month of the year after having stagnated in November. Last year, Czechs spent less, which was reflected in the lower interest of businesses in recruiting seasonal workers, which usually occurs in retail, e-commerce and logistics at the end of the year. The demand was lower than in the past even in those sectors. Moreover, employees’ contracts concluded for a fixed term often end at the end of the year. We expect the unemployment rate to rise again in January or to become stagnant. The development of the unemployment rate will be affected by the end of seasonal work; what is more, some companies terminated agreements to complete a job and agreements to perform work towards the end of the year. They did so, among other reasons, because of the increased administrative burden that they would bear from January in connection with work under these types of agreements. The most valued employees who used to be employed in this way are newly offered regular part-time employment. On the other hand, the period of across-the-board recruitment typical for the first quarter is beginning, which will partially compensate for the loss of jobs.
As at 31 December 2023, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 271,789 vacancies. That is 6,919 fewer than in the previous month and 16,858 fewer than in December 2022. On average, there was one applicant for each vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (9.9), Bruntál (8.4), Jeseník (6.2), Děčín (5.0), Opava (4.5), Most (4.2), Strakonice (3.9) and Hodonín (3.9).
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