Unemployment down to 8.6 in August

Czech unemployment fell to 8.6 percent in August, resuming a decline after a seasonal upswing in July when it stood at 8.7 percent, official data showed on Wednesday. The jobless rate grew between November 2008 and March this year as the global crisis hit, then fell for four months before rising in July as fresh school graduates flooded the labour market. Employment offices registered 491,090 job seekers ready to start work in August, a drop of 4,186 against July and an increase of 7,681 compared with August 2009, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said.