Employment and unemployment as measured by the LFS - 1 quarter 2014

Employment grew, unemployment declined

The total employment in Q1 2014 increased by 38.9 thousand persons compared to the same period of 2013; the employment rate of the aged 15-64 years reached 68.1% and grew by 1.2 percentage point (p.p.), year-on-year (y-o-y). The number of the unemployed according to the ILO methodology dropped by 34.9 thousand persons, y-o-y; the number of the long-term unemployed decreased by 22.9 thousand persons. The general unemployment rate of the aged 15-64 years declined by 0.7 p.p. y-o-y and was 6.9%.

Employment
In Q1 2014 the seasonally adjusted average number of employed persons increased by 8.2 thousand persons, compared to Q4 2013.

The number of employed persons increased by 38.9 thousand (i.e. by 0.8%), y-o-y, to 4 923.0 thousand while the increase was contributed by persons in the positions of employees and the self-employed. The number of the self-employed in the main job, including family workers, in total grew by 24.1 thousand to 892.9 thousand persons compared to Q1 2013 and their share negligibly increased to 18.1%. Compared to Q1 2013, the number of the employees, including members of producer cooperatives, grew by 14.9 thousand to 4 030.0 thousand and their share was 81.9% of the total employment.

The growth in the total employment was demonstrated mostly in the secondary sector in which the increment of the number of working persons (by 42.5 thousand persons compared to the previous year and by 1 867.5 thousand in total) was significantly higher than in the tertiary sector of services (by 15.2 thousand persons compared to the previous year and by 2 925.1 thousand in total). On the contrary, the number of persons working in the primary sector significantly decreased by 18.6 thousand persons (it was 130.3 thousand persons in total).

The employment rate (percentage of the employed in the age group 15-64 years) reached 68.1% and grew by 1.2 p.p. compared to Q1 2013. The male employment rate increased by 1.4 p.p. to 76.0% and the female employment rate grew by 1.1 p.p. to 59.9%.

The increase in the employment rate has been still significant and if summarised it is already a more than three-year continuous increase in the employment rate in the group of 15-64 years of age year-on-year.

Unemployment
The seasonally adjusted average number of unemployed persons according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology ¹⁾ decreased by 7.8 thousand persons in comparison to Q4 2013.

The number of unemployed persons reached 357.8 thousand (of which 186.3 thousand females) and the total number of the unemployed dropped by 34.9 thousand persons, year-on-year. The decline in unemployment was manifested more in the male population (by 23.7 thousand persons), than in the female population (by 11.2 thousand persons).

The number of persons unemployed for one year and longer declined by 22.9 thousand and the total number of them reached 147.2 thousand persons. The share of the long-term unemployed in the total number of unemployed persons attained 41.1%.

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) attained 6.9% in Q1 2014 and decreased by 0.7 p.p. compared to the previous year. If broken down by educational attainment, university graduates permanently show a low unemployment rate (2.8%) and the same can be seen for the persons having secondary education with A-level examination (5.2%). A high unemployment rate pertains in the group of persons with basic education (23.8%), and an above average unemployment rate stays also in the large group of those having secondary education without A-level examination, including persons with apprenticeship certificates (8.4%).

After a period of over two years the year-on-year increase in employment was accompanied by a significant decline in unemployment. In a similar way, as for other economic indicators signalling a positive development of the Czech economy, yet future prospects are uncertain.

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 2014 the number of such persons was 145.6 thousand, i.e. by 22.4 thousand lower than in the same period of 2013. Majority of persons willing to work, however, is not able to start in a potential job immediately. There are 66.7 thousand persons able to start in a job within a fortnight, at the latest.
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¹⁾ 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” registered by the labour offices of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR.

Analysis - More than a half of working persons are exposed to hazards to their physical or mental health at their jobs


Notes:
Responsible head at the CZSO: Dalibor Holý, phone: +420 274052694, e -mail: dalibor.holy@czso.cz
Contact person: Ondřej Nývlt, phone: +420 274054069, e-mail: ondrej.nyvlt@czso.cz
Authors of the analysis: Bohuslav Mejstřík, Marta Petráňová
Data source: CZSO, Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) conducted in selected dwelling 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 2014 and the prediction of the population development in the first quarter of 2014. The results grossed up to the total population of the Czech Republic are based on results of the 2011 Population and Housing Census.
End of data collection / End of preliminary data processing: 17 April 2014 / 24 April 2014
Related Internet-published document: 250128-14 - “Employment and Unemployment in the Czech Republic as Measured by the Labour Force Sample Survey – Quarterly Data” ( /csu/czso/katalog-produktu ) wi th the finalised survey results will be available on the CZSO website by the end of Q2 2014.
Next News Release shall be published on: 4 August 2014

Published: 05.05.2014
The data are valid as of the release date of the publication.