The Czech Republic’s unemployment rate increased to 3.5 percent in September, up from 3.4 percent in August. A total of 256,380 people were registered with the labor offices. Employers offered 306,098 vacancies, down by around 6,200 from the previous month. The Labor Office published the data on Monday.

According to the Labor Office, unemployment is following a classic curve and may stagnate or slightly rise in the coming months. Last September, unemployment was also 3.5 percent, with 262,142 people out of work.

Like every year, the primary wave of graduates arrived in September, but it did not significantly affect the labor market. According to the Labor Office, the situation will continue to depend on the course of the war conflict in Ukraine, the epidemic situation, and the impact of the energy crisis.

According to the office, since the start of the war in Ukraine in February, 131,704 refugees from Ukraine have obtained jobs in the Czech Republic. But some have already returned home or left their jobs. At the end of September, 88,909 Ukrainians with temporary protection were working in the Czech Republic.

Employers’ demand for blue-collar jobs is currently affected by the labor market, especially in manufacturing and construction.

Despite the beginning of a decline in seasonal activities in some regions, demand for seasonal workers remains strong, for example, in construction, agriculture, forestry, food production, and trade. On average, there are 0.8 job seekers per job vacancy in the Czech Republic.

The Ústí nad Labem Region has the highest proportion of unemployed people, at 5.3%. The Moravian-Silesian Region followed with an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent.

The best situation among the districts is in Prague-East, where 1.5 percent of the population is unemployed. The districts of Pelhřimov, Praha-západ, Rychnov nad Kněžnou, and Benešov were also below 2 percent. Karviná has an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent at the other end.

There are more than ten applicants for every job vacancy. On the other hand, in the districts of Praha-východ and Mladá Boleslav, there are only 0.2 applicants per vacancy.

Source