In March, the number of job seekers decreased by 7,484 to a total of 288,623, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9%. That is 15,145 more when compared to the same period of 2023. The fraction of unemployed men and women dropped down to 3.6% and 4.1%, respectively.
A month-on-month increase in the unemployment rate was recorded in 9 districts, with the highest increases in the districts of Most (by 1.4%), Cheb (by 1.3%), Plzeň-město (by 1.3%), Jablonec nad Nisou (by 0.8%), Praha-západ (by 0.3%), Chomutov (by 0.3%), Teplice (by 0.3%), Mladá Boleslav (by 0.2%).
In March, we saw a decrease in the unemployment rate, which can be attributed to several positive factors affecting the labour market. Favourable weather has contributed to an earlier start of seasonal work and temporary jobs, which brings job opportunities, for example in the tourism sector, in castles and chateaux, which traditionally come to life with the onset of spring. In addition, according to our HR Trends 2024 survey, 28% of companies expect positive developments in their business, including increased sales, and are therefore planning to make previously postponed hires, which indicates returning optimism in the labour market.
As at 31 March 2024, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 268,660 vacancies. That is 81 more than in the previous month and 15,865 fewer than in March 2023. On average, there were 1.1 job seekers per vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (10.5), Bruntál (7.5), Hodonín (5.9), Děčín (5.5), Jeseník (5.3), Blansko (4.5), Most (4.4), Opava (4.1).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached 2.7% in the Czech Republic in February, as compared to 6.4% 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 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