The Czech unemployment rate was unchanged at around a two-decade low of 2.8 percent of the workforce in November, the Labour Ministry said on Monday.
The figure, the lowest number for that month since 1995, was in line with analysts’ forecasts for 2.8 percent.
The number of jobless dropped to 215,010, which is the lowest figure since June 1997, while the number of vacancies increased to over 323,500. Last November, unemployment stood at 3.5 percent.
Czech unemployment is the lowest in the European Union, according to Eurostat data, with a lack of workers helping push up wages quickly and adding inflationary pressures to the domestic economy.
The lowest rate of unemployment, 1.8 percent, is in the Pardubice region, while the highest rate is in the region of Moravia-Silesia and Ústí nad Labem with 4.3 percent of people out of work. In Prague, the rate of unemployment came in at 1.9% where there were officially 65,009 open vacancies registered with the Labor Office.
The central bank has lifted interest rates at its last four policy meetings but is expected to pause at its last sitting this year on Dec. 20.
Author: red
