Rising Unemployment in Czechia: More Job Seekers Than Vacancies

In December last year, unemployment in the Czech Republic rose to 3.7 percent from November’s 3.5 percent.

Since last January, this marked the first time that there were more registered job seekers than vacancies.

According to data released by the Czech Labor Office, job seekers increased by 16,000 to 279,227, while vacancies decreased by 7,000 to 271,789.

This trend of rising unemployment at the end of the year is not new, as seasonal jobs in agriculture and construction often end with the onset of winter.

Additionally, more people register for benefits as their fixed-term work contracts and agreements terminate or as self-employed individuals temporarily suspend their activities.

Employers continue to seek employees in technical and labor professions, with a long-term demand for skilled artisans. Roughly three-quarters of vacant positions seek applicants with primary or lower education, and two-thirds of positions are suitable for foreigners.

Those most commonly without work are people with lower qualifications, specifically those educated without a high school diploma and those with primary education.

The average age of the unemployed was 42.8 years in December.

Despite these trends, the state of the job market in the Czech Republic has not fundamentally changed. The rise in unemployment in December was seasonal.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment has hardly changed in almost a year. Even if domestic figures climb to four percent, it would still be considered low unemployment.