In December, the number of job seekers grew by 14,616 to a total of 271,803, and the unemployment rate increased to 3.7%. That is 13,630 more when compared to the same period of 2021. The unemployment rate of men and women increased to 3.4% and 4.1%, respectively.
A month-on-month increase in unemployment rate was recorded in 76 districts, with the highest increases in the districts of Jeseník (23.2%), Chrudim (18.6%), Svitavy (18.2%), Klatovy (18.0%), Jindřichův Hradec (17.1%), Břeclav (16.6%), Prachatice (16.1%) and Třebíč (15.9%).
The unemployment rate increased again after stagnating in December. This is mainly due to employers’ concerns about the impact of the energy crisis. Many companies have stopped hiring and are waiting to see how the economic situation develops in the first quarter. In addition, employees’ contracts often end at the end of the year. Some companies now prefer to hire temporary agency workers, especially in blue-collar jobs, who can be easily dismissed if necessary. The unemployment rate is expected to rise or stagnate in the near future due to the energy crisis. We can expect a potential decrease in the unemployment rate in the middle of the year when the economic situation potentially improves and recruitment for seasonal summer jobs begins.
As of 31 December 2022, the Czech Labour Office registered a total of 288,647 vacancies. That is 3,323 fewer than in the previous month and 54,501 fewer than in December 2021. On average, there were 0.9 applicants for each vacancy, with the highest numbers reported in the districts of Karviná (11.3), Bruntál (5.2), Jeseník (4.4), Most (4.3), Ústí nad Labem (4.1), Děčín (3.8), Opava (3.6) and Žďár nad Sázavou (3.3).
According to the latest available data, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate, processed by EUROSTAT for the purposes of international comparison, reached only 2.1% in the Czech Republic in October, as compared to 6.0% in the EU27. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the Czech Republic was 2.1%, compared to 6.0% in the EU27.
In the 3rd quarter of 2022, the average gross monthly nominal salary*) (hereinafter “average salary”) reached CZK 39,858, which is CZK 2,295 (6.1%) more than in the same period in 2021. Consumer prices increased by 17.6% during that period, and the real salary consequently decreased by 9.8%. The amount of salaries increased by 7.2%, and the number of employees grew by 1.0%. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average salary grew by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter of 2022.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, the median salary (CZK 34,993) increased by 6.5%, equalling CZK 37,530 for men and CZK 32,171 for women. Eighty percent of employees received salaries between CZK 18,301 and CZK 62,659.
* calculated to the number of employees in the national economy
source: MPSV, ČSÚ, ec.europa.eu
source: MPSV, ČSÚ, ec.europa.eu