Working time in CEE above the EU average

Erste Bank Research Team Erste Bank

On the radar

In Romania, PPI index arrived at -1.0% y/y while unemployment rate was at 5.4% in May.
Today, Croatia will publish flash estimates of June’s inflation at 11 AM CET.
Today, the flash estimate of HICP inflation in the Eurozone countries will also be released.
There are no other releases scheduled in the region.

Economic developments

As summertime has arrived, we will take a look at the average number of working hours per week across Europe. It's evident that employees in the region are working longer hours than those in the rest of Europe. Serbia is leading with an average number of usual weekly hours in the main job at 42.7, followed by Poland and Romania where the working week is slightly longer than 40 hours. Although other CEE countries have a slightly shorter working week, they all position themselves above the EU average of 37.2 hours. Furthermore, the percentage of employed people having a second job is mostly lower in the region compared to the EU average, except for Serbia, where over 7% of employed people have a second job, compared to 4% in the EU.

Market movements

CEE currencies weakened against the euro on Monday, mainly due to global developments such as the results of the first round of snap elections in France, where Marine Le Pen’s National Rally got the most votes, shifting the balance of power to the right. Romania successfully sold more T-bills than planned in an auction held on Monday, while Czechia witnessed a narrowing of the budget deficit in June due to improved tax collection. Czechia remains on track to consolidate public finances this year, while long-term bonds moved up at the beginning of the week.

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Erste Bank Research Team

Erste Bank

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