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The Czech Labour Office has been cleared to take on around 600 new staff by the end of the year. Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Michaela Marksová has said many of the new staff will be directed to make sure that increasing social welfare payments are not being abused. State spending on emergency welfare payments rose by around a third last year to total more than 10 billion crowns. The ministry estimates that the extra checks could results in 5-10 percent savings on the budgets of some welfare payments.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico jointly opened Czech arms producer Česká Zbrojovka’s new factory in Central Slovakia on Tuesday. The factory at Nováky should employ an extra 200 people by the end of the year. The Czech manufacturer said its decision to site the new capacity in Slovakia was caused by the skilled workforce at hand and had nothing to do with the fact that the Slovak government is looking for a supplier of new army rifles.

A bugging device was uncovered in the office of the chairwoman of Energy Regulatory Office, Alena Vitásková, financial news website iHned reported on Monday. The item may have been installed around the time of this year’s Easter holidays. The head of the office said she would be discussing the matter with the police president. The listening device was reportedly located in an area where new legislation as well as steps taken by the bureau are discussed. The bureau’s spokesman declined to comment.

Czech passenger car output rose by 10.3 percent to just under 635,000 units in the first half of 2014. Skoda raised output by 24 percent to 391,844 units. Hyundai produced 159,980 cars, up by 3 percent year-on-year. TPCA, on the other hand, registered a decrease by 20 percent to 83,089 cars. For the entire 2014, the association expects total passenger car output to reach 1.18 million units, which would be the second biggest result after record-high figures in 2011.Bus output rose by 15.5 percent to 1,644 units, of which company Iveco had market share of 86 percent, SOR Libchavy 12 percent and KH motor Centrum almost 2 percent. Lorry production decreased as Tatra, the sole lorry maker on the Czech market, reduced output by 13 percent to 337 vehicles. The output of Jawa motorbikes increased by 6 percent to 890 units.