Unemployment reaches nine percent

According to figures published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs on Monday, the national unemployment rate increased by 0.6 percent in December as compared to November, bringing the overall unemployment figure to nine percent. Over 530,000 Czechs are currently unemployed, that’s about 180,000 more than in 2008, when only six percent of the population was out of work. The increase in unemployment affects all regions of the Czech Republic. A ministry spokesperson said that a rise in unemployment towards the end of the year is not altogether unusual. He explained that often seasonal work and employment contracts end around that time of the year.