Unemployment in the Czech Republic stagnated in February this year, when it stood at 3.9 percent, just like in January. This follows from data published today by the Labor Office of the Czech Republic.
Prague – Unemployment in the Czech Republic stagnated in February this year, the same as in January, at 3.9 percent. There were about 282,500 people without work at the end of February, about 550 less than a month ago. Compared to January, the number of vacancies increased by approximately 2,000 to almost 283,100. Data published by the Labor Office of the Czech Republic, according to experts, show that despite the recession, layoffs are not coming. According to them, unemployment will not be a problem for the economy this year and will remain at low levels throughout the year.
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Last February, unemployment was lower, at 3.5 percent. At the time, there were about 263,400 people out of work and 363,900 vacancies. According to the Labor Office, employers are still more cautious in hiring new employees compared to the previous year, especially due to more expensive energy and raw materials. At the same time, however, most employers are trying to maintain the current levels of employees and are not planning significant layoffs, the office said.
“Although the proportion of companies that reported their intention to reduce employment increased in the past months, this was probably reflected in the lower intensity of new recruitments rather than direct dismissals. If the termination of employment relationships did occur, these workers evidently found new employment without major problems. “Now the trend is slowly starting to reverse, when the number of companies reporting their intention to reduce staff is decreasing, and the reported concerns of households themselves about possible job loss are decreasing accordingly,” said Cyrrus Chief Economist Vít Hradil.
“Thanks to the start of seasonal work, unemployment will decrease in the coming months, even if some companies will be under pressure to lay off workers, as sentiment surveys indicate. It looks like unemployment will not be a serious problem for the Czech economy this year either. Rather, it will continue to be a regional problem.” said Petr Dufek, Chief Economist of Banka Creditas.
The highest unemployment in February was still in the Ústí Region with 5.8 percent. It remained above five percent even in the Moravian-Silesian region, where the share of unemployed was 5.2 percent. Conversely, unemployment was the lowest in the Pilsen and Zlín regions, where it was equal to three percent.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) expects a slight decrease in unemployment in the coming months. “The number of job applicants decreased month-on-month (in February) in absolute value. And with the onset of the spring months, we expect the annual start of seasonal work, especially in construction, forestry or agriculture,” he said regarding today's data. “At the same time, we are already noticing an increased interest from cities and municipalities in workers for community service,” he added.
The trend in unemployment shows that most Czech companies have endured high energy prices, according to PwC's expert on human resources management Andrea Linhartová Palanová. “The demand for high-quality employees from companies will still persist, employers will be more worried about the pressure of wage growth due to high inflation than the lack of people. In the long term, however, the Czech labor market still has a lot of room for improvement and development: the Czech economy, for example, lags behind in automation and digitalization, she misses shared positions and part-time jobs,” she said.
