Unemployment in the Czech Republic was stagnant in February at 3.9 percent, the same as in January. This is according to data published by the Czech Labour Office on Wednesday. At the end of February, 282 500 people were unemployed, about 550 fewer than a month earlier.
The number of vacancies rose by about 2,000 to almost 283,100 compared to January. Unemployment was lower last February, at 3.5 percent. At that time, some 263 400 people were out of work, and there were 363 900 vacancies.
According to the office, the labor market trend is consistent with the current time of year. The demand for technical and blue-collar occupations and skilled artisans has persisted long term. At the same time, the winter season in mountain resorts is continuing.
According to the employment office, employers are still more cautious about hiring than last year, mainly due to more expensive energy or raw materials.
At the same time, however, most employers are trying to maintain existing staff levels and are not planning significant layoffs, the bureau said.
Labor and Social Affairs Minister Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) expects unemployment to fall slightly in the coming months.
“Month-on-month (in February), the number of job seekers fell in absolute terms. And with the onset of the spring months, we expect the annual start of seasonal work, especially in construction, forestry, or agriculture,” he said about the data.
“At the same time, we are already seeing increased interest from municipalities in public works workers,” he added.
Unemployment remained highest in the Ústí nad Labem region in February, at 5.8 percent. It was still above 5 percent in the Moravian-Silesian Region, where the share of the unemployed was 5.2 percent.
On the other hand, unemployment was lowest in the Plzeň and Zlín regions, where it was the same at three percent.
Among the districts, unemployment was still highest in the Karviná region, reaching 8.4 percent. This district also had the highest number of job seekers per vacancy. There were, on average, 10.6 job seekers for every vacant position in Karviná.
The lowest share of unemployed was again in the Prague-East district, where 1.6 percent of people were looking for work. The same district also had the lowest number of applicants per vacancy, with 0.2 applicants.