Employment and unemployment as measured by the LFS - 2. quarter of 2022

Employment increased thanks to services

03.08.2022
Code: 250145-22
 

The total employment increased by 123.2 thousand persons, year-on-year (y-o-y). The number of the unemployed, according to the methodology of the International Labour Organization (ILO), decreased by 28.7 thousand persons. The number of the economically inactive aged 15+ years decreased by 82.9 thousand.

"Compared to the previous year, employment considerably increased mainly in trade and accommodation. Results for the Q2 2022 thus confirmed recovery in services, which were limited the most a year ago as a consequence of the pandemic,” Marta Petráňová, Head of the Unit for Labour Forces, Migration, and Equal Opportunities of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), explains.

Employment
In the Q2 2022, the seasonally adjusted average number of employed persons increased by 14.8 thousand persons, compared to the Q1 2022.

The number of working persons aged 15+ years increased by 123.2 thousand, y-o-y, i.e. by 2.4% to 5 160.2 thousand. The increase is mainly caused by an increment in the number of working females. Their number is by 73.7 thousand higher, y-o-y. The number of working persons aged 45–64 years considerably increased, by 87.1 thousand.

The number of employees increased by 98.1 thousand persons. The total number of the self-employed increased by 20.4 thousand persons. This overall increase is owing to an increase in the number of the self-employed without employees (own-account workers), namely by 26.3 thousand. The number of the self-employed with employees (employers) decreased by 5.9 thousand and the number of contributing family workers increased by 4.7 thousand.

According to preliminary data for the Q2 2022, the development of employment in individual economic activities (CZ-NACE sections) in the Czech Republic was different1). In the primary sector of agriculture, forestry and fishing, the number of working persons did not change significantly, year-on-year; it increased by 3.4 thousand to 131.4 thousand. Also in the secondary sector of industry and construction, the number of the employed remained almost unchanged, too. The number decreased by 3.8 thousand to 1 881.4 thousand. On the other hand, in the tertiary sector of services, the total employment increased by 123.7 thousand to 3 147.4 thousand. In this sector, the number of working persons especially increased in the section of ‘wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ by 41.7 thousand, in ‘accommodation and food service activities’ by 33.6 thousand, and in ‘public administration and defence; compulsory social security’ by 14.2 thousand.

Along with changes in the structure by economic activity (CZ-NACE section), also changes in the structure of working persons by occupation took place. According to the Classification of Occupations (CZ-ISCO), the number of working persons increased the most in the major group of service and sales workers (by 73.8 thousand) and in the major group of craft and related trades workers (by 31.0 thousand). In the major group of managers, there was also an increase (by 11.7 thousand).

The development trend in the number of working persons according to the educational attainment is also related to those changes in the employment structure. The number of working persons considerably increased in both the most numerous groups of persons with secondary education. The highest increase was among working persons with secondary education with A-level examination, by 63.4 thousand. In the number of the employed with secondary education without A-level examination, the increment was also considerable, by 43.1 thousand. The number of working persons with tertiary education increased by 10.3 thousand and the number of working persons with primary education increased by 5.7 thousand.

The employment rate (the percentage of working persons in the age group of 15–64 years old) increased in the Q2 2022 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year by 1.8 percentage point (p. p.) to 75.2%. The male employment rate increased by 1.5 p. p. to 82.1% and the female employment rate by 2.0 p. p. to 68.1%.

Unemployment
The seasonally adjusted average number of unemployed persons according to the ILO methodology2) increased in the Q2 2022 by 1.5 thousand persons, compared to that in the Q1 2022.

The total number of the unemployed aged 15+ years was by 28.7 thousand lower, y-o-y, and reached 125.7 thousand persons. Primarily the number of the unemployed males decreased by 16.1 thousand to 54.3 thousand, whereas the decrease in the number of the unemployed females was slightly lower (by 12.6 thousand to 71.4 thousand). The number of the unemployed decreased the most in the Středočeský Region (by 12.6 thousand) and in the Hl. m. Praha Region (by 5.5 thousand). The number of persons unemployed for one year and longer increased by 5.7 thousand persons, y-o-y, and reached 49.8 thousand persons.

The general unemployment rate according to the ILO definition in the age group of
15–64 years old (the percentage of the unemployed in the labour force, i.e. in the sum of the employed and the unemployed) decreased, year-on-year, by 0.6 p. p. to 2.4% in the Q2 2022.

In terms of a regional comparison, the general unemployment rate of the 15–64 years old was the highest in the Moravskoslezský Region (4.4%), in the Karlovarský Region (4.3%), and in the Olomoucký Region (3.7%). The biggest decrease in the unemployment rate was in the Středočeský Region (by 1.9 p. p to 1.1%), in the Plzeňský Region (by 1.8 p. p. to 1.7%), and in the Karlovarský Region (by 1.3 p. p to 4.3%). The Středočeský Region had the lowest unemployment rate in Czechia (1.1%).

Economic inactivity
The number of economically inactive persons aged 15+ years was by 82.9 thousand lower, year-on-year, and amounted to 3 549.2 thousand. The number of economically inactive females decreased by 56.4 thousand; the number of economically inactive males dropped by 26.5 thousand. The number of all the economically inactive including children up to 15 years of age decreased by 86.4 thousand to 5 239.1 thousand. 

In the sample survey, data are also collected on persons who do not work and do not seek a job in an active manner and therefore do not comply with the ILO conditions for the unemployed, yet they state that they would like to work. In the Q2 2022, the number of such persons was 58.7 thousand persons, i.e. by 55.0 thousand persons less than in the corresponding period of 2021. The number of persons who are willing to work, however, they are not able to start in a potential job immediately, is relatively high. Only 12.9 thousand of the persons are able to start in a job within a fortnight, at the latest.

Recalculation to the same population structure
The LFSS is a sample survey among households, which is weighted and grossed up to data of demographic statistics. Demographic weights based on the 2021 Population and Housing Census results were also used for recalculation of data for the Q2 2021 for the purpose of a year-on-year comparison. 

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1) Data for the economic activities (CZ-NACE sections) may be influenced by the applied methodology of the Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS). The survey only covers persons living in dwellings (flats), i.e. private households. Data for persons living in collective accommodation establishments are not measured; these establishments often give accommodation to foreign nationals.
2) The ILO methodology defines the unemployed as persons who during the reference period were without a job, did not work an hour for pay or remuneration, and were in an active manner seeking job they would be able to join within fortnight at the latest. This methodology is uniform for all EU Member States and provides internationally comparable data. It has to be taken into consideration 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, Director of the  Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics Department,  phone number: (+420) 274 052 694, e-mail: dalibor.holy@czso.cz
Contact person: Marta Petráňová, Head of the Unit for Labour Forces, Migration, and Equal Opportunities, phone number: (+420) 274 054 357, e-mail: marta.petranova@czso.cz
Data source: The CZSO, Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) conducted in selected private households. Collective accommodation establishments are not included in the survey. The LFSS results for the Q2 2022 have been grossed up to the total population of the Czech Republic using data of the population statistics as at 1 January 2022 and the prediction of the natural population change and of the net migration in 2022.
End of data collection: 22 July 2022
End of preliminary data processing: 27 July 2022
Related Internet-published document: 250129-22 - “Employment and Unemployment in the Czech Republic as Measured by the Labour Force Sample Survey – quarterly data” with the final survey results will be available on the CZSO website by the end of the Q3 2022. (Home - We publish - Catalogue of Products - Employment and Unemployment)
Next News Release will be published on: 3 November 2022

 

  •      azam080322.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: 03.08.2022
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