Vliv Covid-19 na trhy práce a nezaměstnanost v zemích Evropské unie

The bachelor thesis focuses on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions and limitations implemented by the member states of the European Union on their economies and, specifically, their labour markets. These impacts in the thesis are measured by how the pandemics affected unemployment in the member states of the European Union. An analysis of three European Union countries, which are the Czech Republic, Spain, and Germany is conducted. Spain was chosen as a country in which there were the strictest restrictions and limitations implemented after the pandemic broke out. Germany, on the other hand, was in the first wave of the pandemic a unique case, because people could trade almost just as before the pandemic. The main hypothesis is the assumption that labour markets that had a better unemployment rate before the pandemic hit, experienced a more severe negative increase in their rate of unemployment than other countries with higher rates. The main hypothesis was tested with multiple linear regression, using the ordinary least squares method, and later was confirmed. The highest increase in their unemployment rate was experienced in the Czech Republic, the second place was overtaken by Germany, and the lowest increase was experienced in Spain. The secondary hypothesis is the assumption that the pandemic had a more severe impact on the unemployment rate of women rather than men, and on the unemployment rate of younger workers below the age of 25 rather than other older workers. This hypothesis is tested with the differences-in-differences method and is later confirmed. The Covid-19 pandemic is later examined via the AD-AS model, Phillips curve and the hysteresis effect. The reaction of the labour markets on the pandemic is also compared to the reaction of labour markets that happened during the economic recession that began in 2008.