Employment and unemployment in the CR as measured by the LFS - 4. quarter of 2005

In the fourth quarter of 2005, total employment grew by 71.0 thousand persons year-on-year; the number of self-employed dropped by 20.1 thousand, but the number of employees increased by 97.0 thousand. The number of unemployed persons according to ILO methodology was down by 15.4 thousand year-on-year, but the number of long-term unemployed dropped by only 3.1 thousand. The general unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points and reached 7.8%.
Employment

Preliminary results for Q4 2005 confirm the growth of total employment––the seasonally adjusted average number of employed persons increased by 11.9 thousand (+0.2%) quarter-on-quarter.

The number of first (main) jobholders in Q4 2005 totalled 4 803.6 thousand on average –a marked increase of 71.0 thousand (+1.5%) year-on-year. The number of employed men and women was 2 726.0 thousand and 2 077.6 thousand, respectively. The employment growth showed itself most in the group of employees whose number grew by 97.0 thousand year-on-year to 4 026.4 thousand and whose proportion in total employment rose by 0.8 percentage points to 83.8%. The number of members of producer cooperatives dropped by 5.8 thousand to 18.3 thousand persons. The number of self-employed continued falling and recorded a year-on-year drop of 20.1 thousand to 758.8 thousand. The proportion of the business sphere in total employment dropped by 0.7 percentage points to 15.8%, the number of self-employed with and without employees fell by 10.5 thousand to 176.7 thousand and by 12.0 thousand to 547.8 thousand, respectively. Among the categories belonging to the business sector, only the number of contributing family workers increased year-on-year—by 2.4 thousand to 34.3 thousand.

The employment rate (the proportion of first (main) jobholders in the number of persons aged 15-64) reached 65.1% and was 0.6 percentage points up year-on-year. Employment rate of men grew by 0.7 percentage points to 73.6%; employment rate of women grew by 0.6 points to 56.7%.

With the rising number of first (main) jobholders, the number of second jobs stagnated (a drop by 0.1 thousand to 114.3 thousand). Unlike the first (main) jobholders, the self-employed without employees prevail among the second job holders and make up more than half of all the employed persons holding second jobs (55.3%).

Unemployment

The average number of unemployed persons according to ILO methodology ^{1 )} increased by 2.0 thousand quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted).
The number of unemployed persons reached 404.8 thousand, of which 229.3 thousand (56.7%) were women. In comparison with the average for Q4 2004, the total number of unemployed decreased by 15.4 thousand. Unemployment dropped among the male population only (by 20.4 thousand), in nearly all five-year age groups below 50, particularly in the age group 20-29. The total number of unemployed women increased by 5.0 thousand year-on-year and, with the exception of the youngest women aged 20-29 and 60-64, it grew in all the other age groups. A majority of the unemployed (71.9%) are persons with secondary education without GCSE and with basic education, but the number of unemployed with university or secondary (incl. GCSE) education was slightly up year-on-year.

While the number of persons unemployed for one year or more dropped by 3.1 thousand to 216.1 thousand year-on-year, their proportion is higher than half of all the unemployed (53.4%). An extraordinarily high proportion of persons out of work for a long time can be found in the group of unemployed with basic education (68.7% of all the unemployed with basic education), in the group of unemployed with secondary education without GCSE it is more than half (52.9%) of all the unemployed. The long-term unemployment is not so high in the group of unemployed with GCSE (42.4%) and in the group of persons with university education (33.8% of all unemployed university graduates). The total number of persons unemployed for more than four years decreased by 3.5 thousand to 59.1 thousand (14.6% of the total number of unemployed persons).

According to the LFSS results, the general unemployment rate according to ILO (derived for age group 15+) reached 7.8% in Q4 2005 and decreased by 0.4 percentage points year-on-year. Even though the general unemployment rate in the Czech Republic is relatively lower than the average of the EU25, the level of long-term unemployment is still high (in spite of the year-on-year drop by 0.1percentage point it reached 4.1%) when compared to the EU15. The different methodology of the survey led to a difference between the general unemployment rate by ILO and the registered unemployment rate by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR (MLSA CR), but the development trend was the same for both rates. The registered unemployment rate by the MLSA CR reached 8.6% in Q4 2005 and decreased by 0.4 percentage points year-on-year.
The regional unemployment rate ranged from 3.2% in the Hl.m.Praha Region and 4.9% in the Plzeňský region and Královehradecký Region to 13.2% in the Moravskoslezský Region and 15.1% in the Ústecký Region.

The level of respondents’ professional qualifications causes considerable differentiation in unemployment rates calculated for individual levels of educational attainment. Lower unemploy-ment rates are steadily recorded for university graduates (2.6%) and persons having full secondary education with GCSE (5.1%), while a high unemployment rate continues to be observed among persons with basic education (26.5%). An above-the-average unemployment rate (8.7%) is still in the large group of persons with secondary education without GCSE including those with vocational education.

Inactivity

The Labour Force Sample Survey also collects data on persons who do not have any job and are not seeking a job in an active way and thus do not meet the ILO conditions for being considered as unemployed, but they declare their willingness to work. These economically inactive persons are a potential labour force reserve. In Q4 2005, their number amounted to 262.6 thousand (a decrease of 27.1 thousand year-on-year). A large number of these persons are found among people aged 24 or less (81.4 thousand), mainly students or apprentices. A relatively high number of people aged 25-34 (46.9 thousand) results from the interest of women on parental leave or of housewives in having a job. The number of persons interested in employment is high at the age of 50+: 20.2 thousand in the age group 50-54 and 31.9 thousand in the age group 55-59. Just these people would welcome, more frequently than a year ago, having appropriate job. In the age group 50-54 they are predominantly disability pension recipients and in the age group 55-59 persons in normal, early or disability retirement. In the age group 60+ they were 49.5 thousand, old age pensioners making up a decisive part of those interested in job.

Analysis - Economic activity of the population in the 4th quarter of 2005

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Note
Contact: Ivo Makalouš, tel.: 27405 2159, e-mail: ivo.makalous@csu.gov.cz
Data source: CZSO, Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) conducted in sampled households
End of data collection: 19 January 2006
End of preliminary processing: 26 January 2006
The results of LFSS were grossed up to the total population of the CR, using the final results of demographic statistics as at 1 January 2005, already reflecting the changes in the administrative division of the CR, and the prediction of natural increase and migration balance in Q4 2005.
Related publication: 3102-05 “Employment and Unemployment in the Czech Republic as Measured by the Labour Force Sample Survey” with final results of the survey will be brought out by the end of March 2006.

1) The ILO methodology defines the unemployed as persons who were: (a) out of work during the reference week, i.e. neither had a job nor were at work (for one hour or more) in paid employment or self-employment, (b) currently available for work, i.e. were available for paid employment or self-employment before the end of two weeks following the reference week, and (c) actively seeking work. It should be noted that the definition of “the unemployed” laid down by ILO differs from the definition of job applicants on the register of employment offices. See the above-mentioned related publication of the CZSO for a detailed explanation of differences between the number of the unemployed by ILO and the number of job applicants.