Employment and unemployment as measured by the LFS - 1st quarter of 2012

The total employment in Q1 2012 increased by 4.1 thousand persons compared to the same period of 2011; the employment rate of the aged 15-64 years reached 65.6% and grew by 0.6 percentage point (p.p.), year-on-year (y-o-y). The number of the unemployed according to the ILO methodology dropped by 3.5 thousand persons, y-o-y; the number of the long-term unemployed increased by 9.9 thousand persons. The general unemployment rate of the aged 15-64 years declined by 0.1 p.p. to 7.2%, y-o-y.

Employment

In Q1 2012 the seasonally adjusted average number of employed persons fell by 2.0 thousand persons, compared to Q4 2011. Thus, the termination of the favourable trend in the previous quarters, when the number of the employed persons was continuously growing from Q2 2010 to Q3 2011, was confirmed.

The number of employed persons increased negligibly by 4.1 thousand (i.e. by 0.1%), y-o-y, to 4 868.5 thousand mainly due to an increase in the number of persons in the position of the self-employed without employees (+40.2 thousand). The number of the self-employed in main job, including family workers, rose by 26.8 thousand to 902.1 thousand persons compared to Q1 2011 and their share already reached 18.5%. Compared to Q1 2011, the number of the employees, including members of producer cooperatives, fell by 22.7 thousand to 3 966.4 thousand and their share was 81.5% of the total employment.

In Q1 2012 the number of the employed in the secondary sector was down by 18.4 thousand persons (in total 1 852.0 thousand persons) and in the primary sector it fell by 5.3 thousand persons (in total 139.3 thousand persons), both year-on-year. Conversely, the tertiary sector saw an increase by 28.6 thousand persons (in total 2 877.3 thousand persons).

The employment rate (percentage of the employed in the age group 15-64 years) reached 65.6% and grew by 0.6 p.p. compared to Q1 2011. The male employment rate increased by 0.4 p.p. to 73.6% and the female employment rate grew by 0.7 p.p. to 57.3%.

It is still necessary to mention that in coming years there will be a decrease in the number of potential labour force when the number of persons in the age group 15-64 years will be falling significantly. This is, first of all, caused by the fact the large post-war generations have been gradually moving into the age group of 65+ years. Moreover, the weak populations of generations born in the middle of the 1990s have been entering the labour market.

Unemployment

The seasonally adjusted average number of unemployed persons according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology ¹⁾increased by 15.6 thousand persons in comparison to Q4 2011. In the last two years effects of worse conditions on the labour market at the beginning of the calendar year were more pronounced.

The number of unemployed persons reached 372.7 thousand (of which 185.6 thousand females) and the total number of the unemployed fell year-on-year by tiny 3.5 thousand persons. The y-o-y decline in unemployment was manifested in a uniform way both in the male population (-1.2 thousand persons) and in the female one (-2.3 thousand persons).

The negligible decline in the total unemployment was not demonstrated in an absolute drop in the number of persons unemployed for one year and longer, and compared to the last year, their number, on the contrary, increased by 9.9 thousand and accounted for 160.3 thousand persons. The share of the long-term unemployed in the total number of unemployed persons attained 43.0%.

The general unemployment rate according to the ILO definition (in the age group 15-64 years) reached 7.2% and fell by 0.1 p.p. compared to Q1 2011. If broken down by educational attainment, university graduates permanently show a low unemployment rate (2.5%) and similarly the persons having secondary education with A-level examination (5.2%). A high unemployment rate grows in the group of persons with basic education (28.4%), and an above average unemployment rate also pertains in the large group of those having secondary education without A-level examination, including persons with apprenticeship certificates (8.2%). This can lead to the conclusion that the termination of employment contracts at the end of the year happens, first of all, in persons with lower educational attainment.

The different survey methodology led to a discrepancy between the general unemployment rate (ILO) and the registered unemployment rate by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR (MLSA CR). The development trend was similar in both the rates. The registered unemployment rate by the MLSA CR reached 9.0% in Q1 2012.

Inactivity

In the sample survey, data are collected also on persons, who do not work and do not seek a job in an active manner, and thus do not comply with the ILO conditions for the unemployed, yet they state they would like to be working. In Q1 2012 the number of such persons was 198.7 thousand, i.e. by 2.9 thousand higher than in the same period of 2011. Majority of persons willing to work, however, is not able to start in a potential job immediately. There are 67.0 thousand persons able to start in a job within a fortnight, at the latest.
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¹⁾ The ILO methodology defines the unemployed as all persons above a specified age who during the reference period were: - without work, that is, were not in paid employment or self-employment during the reference period; - currently available for work, that is, were available for paid employment or self-employment during the reference period; and - seeking work, that is, had taken specific steps in a specified recent period to seek paid employment or self-employment. The specific steps may include registration at a public or private employment exchange; application to employers; checking at worksites, farms, factory gates, market or other assembly places; placing or answering newspaper advertisements; seeking assistance of friends or relatives; looking for land, building, machinery or equipment to establish own enterprise; arranging for financial resources; applying for permits and licences, etc. This methodology is uniform for all EU Member States and produces internationally comparable data. It should be noted that the definition of “the unemployed” by the ILO differs from the definition of “job applicants” registered by the labour offices of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR.

Analysis - Health problems of the Czech Republic population of the productive age


Notes:
Responsible head at the CZSO: Dalibor Holý, phone: +420 274052694,
e-mail: dalibor.holy@csu.gov.cz
Contact person: Ondřej Nývlt, phone: +420 274054069,
e-mail: ondrej.nyvlt@csu.gov.cz
Data source: CZSO, Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) conducted in selected dwelling households; collective accommodation establishments are not included in the survey. The LFSS results have been grossed up to the total population of the Czech Republic using data of the population statistics as at 1 January 2011 and the prediction of the natural increase/decrease and the migration balance in 2011 and in Q1 2012. The results grossed up to the total population of the Czech Republic are not based on results of the 2011 Population and Housing Census.
End of data collection /
End of preliminary data processing: 19 April 2012 / 26 April 2012
Related Internet-published document: e-3101-11 - “Employment and Unemployment in the Czech Republic as Measured by the Labour Force Sample Survey” ( /katalog-produktu ) with the finalised survey results will be available on the CZSO website by the end of Q2 2012.
Next News Release shall be published on: 3 August 2012