Thursday, 8 October 2026
The Czech unemployment rate remained at 5% in September 2026, unchanged for the third consecutive month, while the number of people without work remained significantly higher than a year earlier.
Labour Office data showed 368,377 registered job seekers at the end of September, down by 5,514 from August. Despite the monthly decline, the total was more than 30,000 above September 2025, when 337,925 people were registered as unemployed. The unemployment rate has consequently increased from 4.5% over the past year.
The number of positions registered with the Labour Office moved in the opposite direction during September. Employers reported 104,359 vacancies, around 5,100 more than in August and approximately 8,600 above the level recorded a year earlier. There were about 3.5 registered job seekers for each available position nationally.
Seasonal changes helped keep the unemployment rate unchanged during the month. The arrival of school and university graduates and the end of some summer employment increased the number of people entering the labour market, while companies simultaneously stepped up recruitment ahead of the final months of the year. Retailers, logistics operators and e-commerce businesses are among the sectors adding staff ahead of the Christmas period.
The longer-term picture nevertheless points to a gradual weakening of employment conditions. The unemployment rate has risen from 3.9% two years ago to 4.5% in September 2025 and 5% this September. Employment opportunities are becoming more limited in parts of industry, while services and construction continue to generate demand for workers.
Conditions vary considerably across the country. The Ústí nad Labem Region recorded the highest unemployment rate at 7.3%, while Prague stood at 3.9%. Compared with August, unemployment declined by 0.1 percentage points in most regions and remained unchanged in Ústí nad Labem and Karlovy Vary.
Differences become even more pronounced at district level. Karviná had 20.4 registered applicants for every vacancy, while the ratios reached 17.8 in Ústí nad Labem and 17.4 in Děčín. At the other end of the market, unemployment below 3% was limited to Prague-East, Prague-West and Rychnov nad Kněžnou.
The figures suggest that the Czech labour market is moving away from the exceptionally tight conditions of recent years without experiencing a sharp deterioration. Analysts expect unemployment to average around 5% in 2026, while Raiffeisenbank forecasts a possible decline to about 4.8% in 2027. For businesses, the national easing may improve access to workers, but substantial regional differences mean labour availability remains a constraint in some of the country’s strongest employment markets.
