The improving performance of the Czech economy is springing from the industrial sector, where production increased by 11 per cent over a year ago - the best showing in four years. Construction reached a three-year high as well with the volume of projects up 8.2 per cent. The results were released by the Czech Statistics Office October 10.
According to the experts, the growth is caused by the high level of foreign capital in local companies, which is accompanied by rising productivity and export. Such companies represent 27 per cent of all industry sales in the country and their performance growth is near 30 per cent. Among the most successful such companies remain traditional powers like the Skoda carmaker from Mlada boleslav, as well as newcomers like the TV-set manufacturer Otava.

Although employment offices as usual registered more unemployed people in September than in any other month, the unemployment rate declined to 8.8 per cent. Experts are surprised by the development and attribute the decrease to the general growth of economy and the successful policies of the employment offices, which are managing to find jobs for difficult-to-employ persons like new graduates and mothers with children.
The highest unemployment rate is in Most (21.5 per cent), the lowest is in the Prague-East and Prague-West districts (3 per cent).

Josef Tosovsky, the Czech National Bank (CNB) governor and former prime minister, announced October 5 he was withdrawing his application for the position of vice president of the European Bank for Renewal and Development. He said the reason for his decision is the lengthy selection process.
He did not confirm whether he intended to stay on as CNB governor until the end of his term in 2004. "It's a question of my further plans and they are directly concerned with the future of the whole CNB, and so I would like to discuss this with the president first," said Tosovsky. Some speculate Tosovky might move to the diplomatic corps.