Rates of employment, unemployment and economic activity - February 2021

The employment rate of the aged 15–64 years (the share of the employed persons in the age group 15–64 years, as percentage), seasonally adjusted, reached 74.1% in February 2021 and decreased by 0.9 percentage point (p.p.) compared to that in February 2020. The male employment rate was 80.9%; the female employment rate was 67.0%, both seasonally adjusted. The employment rate of persons aged 15–29 years, seasonally adjusted, was 44.7%, in the age group 30–49 years it attained 86.9%, and in the age group 50–64 years it got to 76.3%.

The general unemployment rate of the aged 15–64 years (the share of the unemployed in the labour force, that is in the total number of the employed and the unemployed (that means economically active persons), as percentage), seasonally adjusted, reached 3.3% in February 2021 and increased by 1.5 p.p., year-on-year. The male unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, attained 2.6%; the female unemployment rate reached 4.2%.

“The unemployment rate was 3.3% in February. It was thus the same as in January; however, in the year-on-year comparison, it significantly increased from 1.8%. Moreover, attitudes of newly dismissed people significantly worsen in comparison to the last quarter of 2020. The share of those who would like to try to find a job in their original field decreased from 54% to 41%. The share of those who were expecting to return to their original employer decreased from 28% to 16%,” Dalibor Holý, Director of Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics Department of the Czech Statistical Office, points out.

The economic activity rate of the aged 15–64 years (the share of the number of the economically active in the total number of persons of this age group, as percentage), seasonally adjusted, reached 76.7% and rose by 0.2 p.p. compared to that in February 2020. Following the seasonal adjustment, the male economic activity rate (83.1%) exceeded the female economic activity rate by 13.1 p.p.

Eurostat, in its press release, publishes the monthly unemployment rate, identical in terms of the methodology applied, but for the age group 15–74 years. In the Czech Republic, the general unemployment rate for the aged 15–74 years in February 2021 was 3.2%, while the data are based on the Labour Force Sample Survey results for the corresponding month.

Tables 1 and 2 enclosed contain methodologically consistent time series of basic indicators of the labour market, and seasonally adjusted absolute numbers of the employed persons and of the unemployed ones, respectively, starting in 1993. Table 3 has been added, with average numbers of hours actually worked, broken down by employees and the self-employed. This special table is not seasonally adjusted – the data can be compared only year-on-year (having in mind different numbers of working days).

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