According to preliminary data, the balance of foreign trade in goods at current prices ended November with a surplus of CZK 23.6 billion, which was CZK 4.2 billion lower year-on-year. In November, the adjusted unemployment rate was 2.8 %.
Total balance of foreign trade in goods positively influenced in particular a year-on-year higher surplus on trade in motor vehicles by CZK 2.2 billion. The trade deficit in oil and natural gas decreased by the same amount. The positive balance with electrical equipment increased by CZK 2.0 billion year-on-year.
Adverse effect the overall balance was mainly affected by a smaller trade surplus in metal products by CZK 4.3 billion and in machinery and equipment by CZK 2.8 billion. The trade deficit in base metals widened by CZK 1.6 billion.
External trade surplus with EU countries decreased by CZK 3.9 billion year-on-year in October. Trade deficit with the States outside the EU increased by CZK 0.5 billion.
Year-on-year increased export by 4.4 % to CZK 424.5 billion and Retrieved from by 5.8 % to CZK 400.9 billion. November 2024 had the same number of working days as November 2023.
"Even in November, imports grew faster than exports. For example, imports of metalworking products, which originated mainly from Germany, Slovakia and China, increased by almost 26 % year-on-year. We also recorded a year-on-year growth of more than 2 billion TTPT in imports of food products, which mainly originated from Germany, Poland and Spain," says the head of the CSO's Balance of Trade Department Jana Mazánková.
Interim after seasonal cleaning export increased by 0.5 % and Retrieved from decreased by 0.7 %.
V January to November 2024 the trade surplus reached CZK 219.1 billion, which represented a year-on-year increase of CZK 101.2 billion. Since the beginning of the year, exports increased by 4.7 % and imports by 2.3 %.
Employment, unemployment and economic activity rates
Employment rate
The ratio of employed to total population aged 15-64 reached 75.4 % in November. Compared to November 2023, it has increased by 0.5 percentage points. The employment rate for males was 81.4 %, while the employment rate for females was 69.1 %. The employment rate for 15-29 year olds was 40.8 %, for 30-49 year olds was 85.6 %, for 50-64 year olds was 83.7 %.
"The employment rate has recently been on an upward trend. For the female part of the population, there is a visible continuation of the trend of rapid growth in labour force participation in the pre-cide period, which started already in 2011," comments the Director of the Department of Labour Market Statistics and Equal Opportunities of the CZSO Dalibor Holý.
Unemployment rate
The ratio of the unemployed to the economically active, i.e. the sum of the employed and unemployed, reached 2.8 % in November. It increased by 0.2 percentage point year-on-year. The unemployment rate for men was 2.1 %, while for women it was 3.8 %.
Economic activity rate
The ratio of the economically active to the population of 15-64 year olds reached 77.6 %. Compared to November 2023, it increased by 0.7 percentage points. The male economic activity rate (83.2 %) exceeded the female economic activity rate (71.8 %) by 11.3 percentage points.
International comparability
All figures are seasonally adjusted. They refer to the age group 15-64 years. They come from the Labour Force Sample Survey (LFS) carried out by the CSU's own household interview network and are methodologically different from the administrative data of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic on registered jobseekers (specifically the Share of Unemployed Persons indicator).
The LFS has an internationally comparable methodology that defines the employed and unemployed in accordance with the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation. The CZSO regularly sends data from this survey to Eurostat, which uses it to produce monthly unemployment surveys for EU Member States, but for the 15-74 age group. The unemployment rate for this age group 15-74 was 2.8 % in November 2024 for the Czech Republic.
In line with the international methodology for the LFS, the survey is only conducted in private households; neither mass accommodation nor temporary shelters are covered.
CSO/ gnews - RoZ
ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO - pixabay, Bernd-Dittrich-rPM6qVp_tgk-unsplash,
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