Slovakia´s unemployment rate up at 5.26% in January

Slovakia´s unemployment rate up at 5.26% in January
Slovakia´s unemployment rate reached 5.26% in January 2019, up by 0.22 percentage points (pp) month-on-month from 5.04% in December 2018 / bne IntelliNews
By bne IntelliNews February 21, 2019

The average monthly wage in the automotive industry in the Czech Republic rose by 8.7% in 2018 to CZK40,865 (€1,591), which is 31% more than the country average. The number of employees increased by 3.8% to 133,000 people, according to the Automobile Industry Association (AutoSAP) referring to the data from its members, the Czech News Agency reporting on February 20.

Growth in wages and employees’ numbers was recorded by final producers, suppliers and other companies and organizations. More significant growth was posted by final producers, with the average wage exceeding CZK50,700 (€1,974). The average for parts and components manufacturers amounted at CZK35,555 (€1,384) per month.

“I consider the fact that the domestic automotive industry in 2018, particularly at the end of the year when slowdown in global markets began to show, managed to generate new jobs, very positive” said AutoSAP Executive Director Zdenek Petzl.

Production of passenger cars in the Czech Republic increased by 1.7% in 2018 to a new record of 1.437mn cars – the fifth year in a row of growth.

“Since October, the automotive sector and the production of other transport equipment have improved after several weak months, but new orders are still not providing more optimistic prospects for this most important Czech industry,” said ING Chief Economist Jakub Seidler.

Czech automotive companies are threatened the most by a German decision to open its labour market to non-EU countries from 2020, particularly to Ukrainians who are considered to be key workers for number of Czech companies.

In 3Q18, the average gross wage in the Czech Republic increased year-on-year by CZK2,458 (€96.7) to CZK31,516 (€1,227.3). Nominal growth reached 8.5%. Minimum monthly wage increased by 9%, by CZK1,150 (€44.8) to CZK13,350 (€513) since January 2019.

Data

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