Total employment in the Q3 2021 increased by 23.9 thousand persons, year-on-year (y-o-y). The number of the unemployed, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology, decreased by 8.3 thousand persons. The number of the economically inactive including children up to 15 years of age decreased by 12.0 thousand.

Employment
In the Q3 2021, the seasonally adjusted average number of employed persons increased by 57.0 thousand persons, compared to the Q2 2021.

The number of working persons aged 15+ years increased by 23.9 thousand persons, y-o-y, i.e. by 0.5%, to 5 257.2 thousand persons. It is mainly return of females to the labour market that contributed to the increase. The number of working females increased by 23.2 thousand persons, year-on-year, whereas the number of working males remained almost unchanged. The total number of the self-employed decreased by 42.6 thousand persons, namely due to a decrease in the number of the self-employed without employees (own-account workers) by 29.4 thousand. The number of the self-employed with employees (employers) also decreased, by 13.3 thousand. The number of contributing family workers decreased, too, by 7.5 thousand persons. On the other hand, the number of employees increased by 74.1 thousand to 4 421.5 thousand.

The age structure of working persons has been changing for a long time. “In the group of the employed in the younger productive age, the employment decreased by 60.5 thousand. The decrease was considerable both in females and males; to put it concretely, it was by 24.2 thousand and 36.4 thousand, respectively. On the other hand, there was a high increase in the number of the employed, namely over 50 thousand, in the age group of 45 to 49 years,” Marta Petráňová, Head of the Unit for Labour Forces, Migration, and Equal Opportunities of the CZSO says. In total, the number of working persons aged 45+ years increased by 84.5 thousand.

According to data for the Q3 2021, the development of employment in individual economic activities (CZ-NACE sections) in the Czech Republic was different ¹⁾. The employment decreased in the secondary sector of industry and construction (by 16.0 thousand to 1 933.5 thousand), mainly due to a decrease in the number of working persons in manufacturing (by 27.2 thousand). Whereas the number of working persons in industry decreased, the number of working persons in construction increased, y-o-y (by 16.7 thousand). In the tertiary sector of services, the total employment increased by 48.8 thousand to 3 193.8 thousand. As for this sector, the number of working persons especially increased in the section of ‘education’ (by 37.2 thousand), ‘information and communication’ (by 31.8 thousand), in the section of ‘professional, scientific and technical activities’ (by 15.5 thousand), and in ‘financial and insurance activities’ (by 6.9 thousand). On the other hand, the employment in the sector of services considerably decreased in the section of ‘administrative and support service activities’ (by 15.1 thousand) and also in ‘accommodation and food service activities’ (by 9.9 thousand), and in the section of ‘transportation and storage’ (by 9.2 thousand). In the primary sector of agriculture, forestry and fishing, the number of working persons decreased by 8.4 thousand to 129.6 thousand.

The development of the number of working persons according to the Classification of Occupations (CZ-ISCO) corresponds to the development of employment in individual sections of economic activities (industries). The number of working persons increased the most in the major group of professionals (by 91.4 thousand) and in the major group of managers (by 43.2 thousand). On the other hand, the number of working persons among the following decreased: technicians and associate professionals (by 43.8 thousand) and craft and related trades workers (by 24.6 thousand), and the number of working persons in elementary occupations  significantly decreased (by 16.4 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 with tertiary education considerably increased, by 110.7 thousand. On the other hand, the number of employed persons in both the most numerous groups of persons with secondary education without A-level examination and with A-level examination decreased. The number of the employed with secondary education without A-level examination decreased by 26.2 thousand and the number of working persons with secondary education with A-level examination decreased by 36.9 thousand. The number of working persons with primary education also decreased, by 23.3 thousand.

The employment rate (percentage of working persons in the age group of 15–64 years old) in the Q3 2021 increased compared to the corresponding period of the previous year by 0.6 percentage point (p. p.) to 75.0%. The male employment rate increased by 0.2 p. p. to 81.8% and the female employment rate by 1.0 p. p. to 67.8%.

Unemployment
The seasonally adjusted average number of unemployed persons according to the ILO methodology ²⁾ decreased in the Q3 2021 by 24.3 thousand persons, compared to that in the Q2 2021.

The total number of the unemployed aged 15+ years decreased by 8.3 thousand, y-o-y, and reached 145.6 thousand persons. Primarily the number of the unemployed males decreased by 6.8 thousand to 66.5 thousand; the number of the unemployed females remained almost unchanged (a decrease by 1.6 thousand to 79.1 thousand). The number of the unemployed decreased the most in the Ústecký Region (by 4.3 thousand) and in the Královéhradecký Region (by 3.2 thousand). On the other hand, the highest year-on-year increase was in the Moravskoslezský Region (by 5.5 thousand). The number of persons unemployed for one year and longer increased by 11.2 thousand persons, y-o-y, and reached 42.0 thousand persons.

The general unemployment rate according to the ILO definition in the age group of 15–64 years old (the share of the unemployed in the labour force, i.e. in the sum of the employed and the unemployed) decreased by 0.2 p. p. to 2.8% in the Q3 2021, year-on-year.

As for regional comparison, the general unemployment rate was the highest in the Karlovarský Region (5.0%) and in the Moravskoslezský Region (4.9%). On the other hand, the unemployment rate of the aged 15–64 years decreased the most in the Královéhradecký Region (by 1.2 p. p to 2.1%) and in the Ústecký Region (by 1.2 p. p. to 3.0%). The Jihočeský Region had the lowest unemployment rate in Czechia (1.8%).

Economic inactivity
The number of economically inactive persons aged 15+ years decreased by 21.5 thousand, year-on-year, to 3 578.6 thousand. The number of all the economically inactive persons including children up to 15 years of age decreased by 12.0 thousand to 5 301.1 thousand. The number of economically inactive females decreased by 19.5 thousand, whereas the number of economically inactive males increased by 7.5 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 Q3 2021, the number of such persons was 66.0 thousand persons, i.e. by 32.8 thousand persons less than in the corresponding period of 2020. 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 32.3 thousand of the persons are able to start in a job within a fortnight, at the latest.

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