Rates of employment, unemployment and economic activity - July 2023

The proportion of employed persons in the number of all persons aged 15–64 years reached 75.4% in July 2023. It decreased by 0.1 percentage point (p.p.) compared to that in July 2022. The male employment rate was 81.6%; the female employment rate was 69.0%. The employment rate of persons aged 15–29 years was 43.7%, in the age group of 30–49 years it was 85.8%, and in the age group of 50–64 years it was 81.7%.

The general unemployment rate
The percentage of the unemployed in the labour force, that is in the total number of the employed and the unemployed (that means economically active persons), reached 2.8% in July 2023. It increased by 0.4 percentage point, year-on-year. The male unemployment rate reached 2.3%; the female unemployment rate reached 3.4%.

“For several years, in Eurostat’s overviews, Czechia was the country with the smallest unemployment rate. In recent months, it has been in a tug-of-war with Poland and Malta for this imaginary first place. The trend since the beginning of the year does not indicate any significant changes,” Dalibor Holý, Director of the Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics Department of the Czech Statistical Office, comments on the results.

The economic activity rate
The percentage of the economically active in the total number of persons aged 15–64 years reached 77.6%. It increased by 0.2 p. p. compared to that in July 2022. The male economic activity rate (83.5%) exceeded the female economic activity rate (71.4%) by 12.1 p. p.

International comparability
All data presented in the News Release are seasonally adjusted. They apply to the age group of 15–64 years. They come from the Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) carried out by a network of interviewers of the CZSO in households and are different in terms of methodology from administrative data of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic on registered job applicants (namely the “Share of unemployed persons” indicator).

The LFSS has an internationally comparable methodology, which defines the employed and the unemployed in accordance with recommendations of the International Labour Organization. The CZSO regularly sends data from the LFSS to Eurostat, which prepares monthly press release on unemployment as for Member States of the EU, however, for the age group of 15–74 years. The unemployment rate in that age group (of the aged 15–74 years) was 2.7% in Czechia in July 2023.

In compliance with the international methodology for the LFSS, the survey is only carried out in private households; collective accommodation establishments as well as temporary shelters are not covered.

Tables 1 and 2 enclosed contain methodologically consistent time series of basic indicators of the labour market and numbers of the employed and unemployed persons, starting in 1993.

Methodological change in the Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS)
The methodology of the weighting scheme and grossing up has been changed starting from the 3rd quarter of 2023 as it was announced in advance. The employment rate of persons aged 15–64 years would be 75.8% in July after having used the old weights; the new figure is by 0.3 percentage point lower. The unemployment rate of persons aged 15–64 years is equally 2.8% using both the new and the old weights. The economic activity rate (participation rate) of persons aged 15–64 years would be 78.0% after having used the old weights; the new figure is by 0.3 percentage point lower.

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Notes:
Responsible head at the CZSO: Dalibor Holý, Director of the Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics Department, phone number: (+420) 274 052 694, e-mail: dalibor.holy@csu.gov.cz
Contact person: Petra Drobilíková, Unit for Labour Forces, Migration, and Equal Opportunities, phone number: (+420) 274 052 972, e-mail: petra.drobilikova@csu.gov.cz
Data source: CZSO, Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS), which is conducted in selected private 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 2023.
Methodological notes: https://csu.gov.cz/zam_vsps
End of data collection: 21 August 2023
End of preliminary data processing: 28 August 2023
Next News Release will be published on:  2 October 2023