In February, the number of job seekers grew by 561 to a total of 296,107, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.0%. That is 13,599 more when compared to the same period of 2023. The unemployment rate increased to 3.8% for men, and remained at 4.2% for women.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded in 38 districts, with the highest increases in the districts of Benešov (by 3.9%), Prostějov (by 3.9%), Tachov (by 3.8%), Plzeň-město (by 3.5%), Pelhřimov (by 3.4%), Přerov (by 3.1%), Plzeň-jih (by 3.1%), Prachatice (by 2.5%).
The stagnation of the unemployment rate in February reflects the mixed impact of economic and seasonal factors. While an exceptionally warm February allowed for an earlier start to seasonal work and the hiring of temporary workers, overall caution in the labor market and a declining number of job openings led companies to be cautious in hiring core employees. We expect unemployment to stagnate or fall slightly again in the coming period. This is also according to the HR Trends 2024 survey, in which the majority of companies (55%) said they plan to maintain their current headcount, while a quarter even plan to expand it. Only 15% of companies expect to reduce their workforce. Business growth (70%) and employee turnover (40%) are significant reasons for hiring new staff. The greatest demand for new employees will be in manufacturing (60%), engineering (40%) and operations (30%), which indicates an optimistic outlook for the labour market, especially in the technical and manufacturing sectors.
As at 29 February 2024, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 268,579 vacancies. That is 1,796 more than in the previous month and 14,518 fewer than in February 2023. On average, there were 1.1 job seekers per vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (11.0), Bruntál (8.0), Jeseník (5.6), Hodonín (5.3), Děčín (5.2), Blansko (4.4), Opava (4.4), Most (4.3).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached 3.2% in the Czech Republic in January, as compared to 6.3% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 3.0%, compared to 6.0% in the EU27.
In the 4th quarter of 2023, the average gross nominal monthly salary* (hereinafter “average salary”) was CZK 46,013, which is CZK 2,734 (6.3%) higher than in the same period in 2022. Consumer prices increased by 7.6% during this period, and real wages decreased by 1.2% as a result. The amount of salaries increased by 6.5%, and the number of employees grew by 0.1%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 1.5% during the 4th quarter of 2023.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 39,685) increased by 6.0%, which corresponds to CZK 42,340 for men and CZK 36,842 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 20,073 and CZK 74,654.
source: MPSV, ČSÚ,
ec.europa.eu
*calculated to the number of employees in the national economy