Unemployment rises slightly but big increase foreseen in autumn

Unemployment in the Czech Republic climbed to 3.8 percent in July, up from 3.7 percent the previous month. The slight rise was attributed to the coronavirus situation as well as fresh graduates registering with labour offices. There were almost 280,000 jobless at the end of July, which was the highest figure since February 2018.

Economists expect a far greater jump in unemployment in the autumn, when some Czech government programmes that are keeping people in work will be discontinued.