Czechia continues to record lowest unemployment in EU, April data show

Unemployment in the Czech Republic fell by 0.1 percent to 3.6 percent in April, with 261,700 people out of work, according to the Labor Office of the Czech Republic.

The number of vacant jobs remained at 284,500, the same as in March. This follows a trend of decreasing unemployment in the country; last April, unemployment was 3.3 percent. According to the most recent data from Eurostat, the Czech Republic has the lowest unemployment rate in the EU, with a rate of 2.6 percent in March, compared to the EU average of 6.1 percent.

Many of those who were previously unemployed found work in retail and wholesale trade, civil engineering, education, plant and animal production, or seasonal work in construction, gastronomy, tourism, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and spas.

The Ústí Region had the highest unemployment rate at 5.5 percent, while the Zlín, South Bohemian, Pardubice, Pilsen regions, and Vysočina regions had the lowest rate at 2.7 percent. The Praha-východ district had the lowest rate of unemployment at 1.5 percent.

Employers offered 284,530 job vacancies, with an average of 0.9 applicants per position. The highest demand was for building construction workers, forklift operators, warehouse workers, assembly workers, truck and tractor drivers, cooks, bricklayers, masons, stove makers and tilers, and cleaners. The highest demand for new employees was in Prague and the Central Bohemia region, with around 79,000 and 58,000 job vacancies, respectively.

The outlook for the next few months is positive, with unemployment expected to decrease further as the energy crisis stabilizes. However, the labor market will continue to be affected by economic and social changes and the conflict in Ukraine. At the end of April, 17,457 Ukrainian citizens under temporary protection were registered with the ÚP CR, making up 6.2 percent of total job applicants.

The number of Ukrainian citizens under temporary protection who found work in the Czech Republic from the conflict outbreak until the end of April reached 238,942.