Employment, Unemployment, and Economic Activity Rates – September 2023

Employment Rate

The percentage of employed individuals in the population aged 15 to 64 reached 75.1% in September. Compared to September 2022, it decreased by 0.7 percentage points. The employment rate for men was 81.5%, for women, it was 68.3%. The employment rate for individuals aged 15 to 29 was 42.4%, for those aged 30 to 49, it was 83.1%, and for those aged 50 to 64, it was 81.0%.

Unemployment Rate

The proportion of unemployed individuals among the economically active population, which includes both employed and unemployed individuals, reached 2.7% in September. On an annual basis, it increased by 0.4 percentage points. The unemployment rate was 2.4% for men and 3.1% for women. “Since 2017, the Czech Republic has consistently maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in the European Union,” commented Marta Petráňová, the Head of the Department for Labor, Migration, and Equal Opportunities at CZSO, discussing the results.

Economic Activity Rate

The percentage of economically active individuals in the population aged 15 to 64 reached 77.1%. Compared to September 2022, it decreased by 0.4 percentage points. The economic activity rate for men (83.4%) exceeded the economic activity rate for women (70.5%) by 13.0 percentage points.

International Comparability

All the data presented are seasonally adjusted and pertain to the 15-64 age group. They come from the Labor Force Survey (VŠPS) conducted by CZSO’s survey network in households, and they are methodologically different from the administrative data from the Czech Republic’s Labor Office on registered jobseekers, especially the Unemployment Rate indicator. VŠPS follows internationally comparable methodology, defining the employed and unemployed in accordance with the recommendations of the International Labour Organization. CZSO regularly sends the survey data to Eurostat, which uses them to prepare monthly reports on unemployment for EU member states, but for the 15-74 age group. In September 2023, the unemployment rate for the Czech Republic in this age group, 15-74 years, was 2.7%. According to the international VŠPS methodology, the survey is conducted only in private households, and it does not cover collective accommodation facilities and temporary shelters.