According to older methodology, unemployment figures reached their highest
in January in the history of the independent Czech Republic. Older
tabulation methods reveal more than 10 percent of people remained out of
work in the first month of 2013. That translates as more than 580,000
people without jobs. Historically, former Czechoslovakia had a higher
jobless rate during the 1930s, when some 740,000 people were out of work.
Under the new methodology, the rate of unemployment in the Czech Republic
rose to eight percent, up by 0.6 percentage points from the previous
month.
According to analysts, the worsening situation on the job market was
expected due to the economic recession and decrease in hiring. At the end
of last month there were approximately 33,800 open positions around the
country.