Employment and unemployment as measured by the LFS - 1st quarter of 2019

Employment in Females Grows Faster than That in Males

06.05.2019
Code: 250145-19
 

Total employment in Q1 2019 increased by 47.3 thousand persons, year-on-year (y-o-y) and reached 5 305.5 thousand persons. On the contrary, the number of the unemployed, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology, dropped by 20.0 thousand persons, y-o-y. The general unemployment rate of the aged 15–64 years declined by 0.4 percentage point (p.p.), y-o-y, to attain 2.1%.

Employment
In Q1 2019 the seasonally adjusted average number of employed persons increased by 11.4 thousand persons, compared to Q4 2018.

The number of persons in the main job increased by 47.3 thousand persons, i.e. by 0.9%, y-o-y, to reach 5 305.5 thousand persons. Both the number of employed males and the number of employed females grew by 13.9 thousand and 33.4 thousand, respectively. The growth rate of total employment has been, however, declining in a significant way since the second half of 2018.

Changes to the age structure of working persons are, first of all, affected by demographic factors and by prolonged time of preparations for future jobs. The number of working persons aged up to 40 years was reduced by 19.9 thousand persons. A decline in the number of young working persons was, first of all, compensated by an increase in the number of working persons born in the first half of the 1970s. The number of working persons aged 45–49 years grew by 43.7 thousand persons. The number of working persons aged 55–59 years also increased in a significant manner by 15.4 thousand persons. And, moreover, the number of working persons aged 65+ years increased by 7.1 thousand persons as well.

The annual growth in employment was shown most in the tertiary sector of services, by an increase of 46.0 thousand persons. Employment grew most, in terms of the number of working persons, in the economic activities section of ‘information and communication’. According to preliminary results, the number of working persons in the sections of ‘transportation and storage’ and ‘human health and social work activities’ increased significantly as well. Employment in the secondary sector of industry and construction remained almost unchanged. The number of working persons grew by 10.8 thousand persons in ‘manufacturing’, yet in ‘construction’ employment conversely declined by 9.5 thousand persons[1]. The number of working persons in the primary sector slightly increased by 3.0 thousand persons.

The decline in the increment of total employment is accompanied with a change to the structure of working persons by status in employment. It was the number of persons with the status of employee, which grew most by 44.5 thousand persons, y-o-y, to reach 4 411.4 thousand persons. The number of the self-employed with employees saw also an increase by 4.2 thousand persons. On the contrary, the number of own-account workers (the self-employed without employees) dropped by almost two thousand persons to fall below its level in Q1 2018.

The number of own-account workers (the self-employed without employees) has been stagnating since the second half of 2018. The number of own-account workers declined especially in the group of the aged up to 45 years by 6.3 thousand persons, y-o-y. On the contrary, an increase in the number of persons aged 55–64 years with this status in employment reached 9.0 thousand persons.

The employment rate (percentage of working persons in the age group 15–64 years) grew by 0.8 p.p., compared to Q1 2018, to reach 75.0%. The male employment rate increased by 0.5 p.p. to reach 81.7%, and the female employment rate increased by 1.2 p.p. to attain 68.1%.

Unemployment
The seasonally adjusted average number of unemployed persons according to the ILO methodology[2] decreased by 6.4 thousand persons in Q1 2019, compared to that in Q4 2018.

The total number of the unemployed declined by 20.0 thousand persons, y-o-y, and reached 109.7 thousand persons. Both the number of the unemployed females dropped by 16.8 thousand persons to reach 54.6 thousand persons and the number of the unemployed males fell by 3.3 thousand persons to attain 55.1 thousand persons. At the same time, the number of persons unemployed for one year and longer declined by 6.1 thousand persons, y-o-y, and so the total number of them reached 34.9 thousand persons.

The general unemployment rate according to the ILO definition in the age group
15–64 years (the share of the unemployed in the labour force, i.e. the sum of the employed and the unemployed) decreased by 0.4 p.p., compared to Q1 2018, and attained 2.1% in Q1 2019.

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 2019 the number of such persons was 104.6 thousand persons, i.e. by 8.9 thousand persons less than in the same period of 2018. Majority of persons willing to work, however, is not able to start in a potential job immediately. Actually, there is merely almost one third of the persons able to start in a job within a fortnight, at the latest.

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1 Data for the aforementioned economic activities sections may be affected by the applied methodology of the Labour Force Sample Survey. The survey covers merely persons living in private households. Data for persons living in collective accommodation establishments are not measured. These establishments, however, often give accommodation to aliens, who find their place on the labour market namely in the secondary sector of the national economy.

2 The ILO methodology defines the unemployed as all persons above a specified age who during the reference period were without a job, did not work an hour for pay, and were in an active manner seeking job they would be able to join within two weeks at the latest. 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 kept in the register of the labour offices” of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Notes:
Responsible head at the CZSO: Dalibor Holý, Head of the Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics Department,
phone: +420 274052694, e-mail: dalibor.holy@czso.cz
Contact person: Marta Petráňová, Unit for Labour Forces, Migration and Equal Opportunities,
phone: +420 274054357, e-mail: marta.petranova@czso.cz
Data source: CZSO, Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) 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 2019 and the prediction of the natural increase of population and net migration in Q1 2019.
End of data collection /
End of preliminary data processing: 18 April 2019 / 24 April 2019
Related Internet-published document: 250128-19 - “Employment and Unemployment in the Czech Republic as Measured by the Labour Force Sample Survey – Quarterly Data” with the finalised survey results will be available on the CZSO website by the end of Q2 2019. (Home - We publish - Catalogue of Products - Employment and Unemployment)
Next News Release shall be published on: 5 August 2019

  •      azam050619.docx

  • Annexes:
  • Table 1 Employed persons (status in the main job, absolute numbers, percentages, year-on-year increments, and indices)
  • Chart 1 The employed and the unemployed (absolute numbers)
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Published: 06.05.2019
The data are valid as of the release date of the publication.


Contact: Information Services Unit - Headquarters, tel.: +420 274 056 789, email: infoservis@czso.cz