Czech unemployment rate falls to 7.5% in May 2014, touch below forecast

By bne IntelliNews June 9, 2014

The unemployment rate in the Czech Republic fell to 7.5% in May 2014 from 7.9% the month before amid the recovering economy, data from the labour ministry showed. The reading was slightly better than market expectations of 7.6%. In annual terms, however, the jobless rate stayed unchanged in May. The indicator shows the share of jobless people aged between 15 and 64 and immediately able to start work versus all working people in the same demographic group.

Unemployment among women ticked lower to 7.6% in May from 7.8% in April and among men it fell to 7.5% from 8%.

The number of jobseekers stood at 549,973 as of end-May, down by 24,935 from end-April but by 2,510 more than in the same month of 2013. The number of available job seekers, showing how many people registered as unemployed by labour offices are able to start work shortly, in the 15-64 age group, stood at 534,342, down from 559,045 in April.

Job vacancies in the fifth month of 2014, on the other hand, increased by 3,777 on the month and by 5,391 on the year to 48,023. Thus, there were 11.5 jobseekers per vacancy, down from 13 in April.

IntelliNews comment: The unemployment rate in the country of 10.5mn averaged 7.7% in 2013. It hit high levels in the first two months of 2014 but in March started to fall down with the start of seasonal work helped by the warmer weather. We expect the number of jobless Czechs to continue falling in the months to come as the economy is gaining strength after exiting a record-long recession last year. Companies are growing more confident and look at expanding production and taking on more workers. Car maker Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile Czech (TPCA), jointly owned by Toyota and Peugeot Citroen, announced plans to hire 700 new staff as it targets to boost production and introduce new models on the market.

 

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