Unemployment in the Czech Republic fell to 3.2 percent in May, a decrease of 0.1 percent when compared with the previous month, data published by the Czech Republic’s Labour Office on Wednesday show.

There are 235,468 job seekers in the country, 8,190 less than in April. The number of job vacancies decreased by about 7,000 compared to the previous month.

Last May, unemployment in the Czech Republic was 3.9 percent.

The labor market continues to be affected by seasonal work, which is in full swing, especially in construction, gastronomy, tourism, agriculture and horticulture, but also in forestry, fishing, spa and mining, said Viktor Najmon, director of the Czech Labor Office.

According to Najmon, unemployment could fall even further. “But everything will also depend on how the war in Ukraine develops and on the impact of the energy crisis on businesses,” he said.

According to available sources, a total of 68,885 citizens found a job since the Russian invasion of Ukraine; currently, at the end of May, 56,388 Ukrainians were working in the Czech Republic with a temporary visa. Most of them are in the Pilsen, Central Bohemia regions and in Prague.

Most unemployed people are in the Karviná region

The lowest unemployment rate remained in the Pardubice Region in May, with 2.1 percent. The share of unemployed people in the Ústí Region remains the highest at 5.1 percent. Year-on-year, the situation changed the most in the Karlovy Vary region, where unemployment fell to 3.8 percent from last year’s 5.7 percent in May.

Among the districts, the highest share of unemployed people is 8.2 percent in the Karviná region. It is 6.6 percent in the Most region, 6.2 percent in the Chomutov region and 5.6 percent in the Bruntál region.

The lowest unemployment rate of 1.1 percent is in the district of Prague-East, and 1.5 percent is in the districts of Pelhřimov and Prague-West.