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The Czech unemployment rate fell in February from 7.7 percent a month earlier to 7.5, with those out of work numbering a little under 550,000, roughly 8,000 fewer than in January. A year ago, unemployment in the country stood at 8.6 percent.

The Czech Republic has been given a modest rating for its progress paving the way and putting the country on the digital superhighway. Countries, like Singapore and Hong Kong, which made a determined effort to become regional digital centres, lead the pack but the likes of Estonia and Slovenia show that the Czech Republic could have a realistic chance of doing a lot better.

The Czech construction sector, one of the biggest victims of the economic downturn, is now showing solid prospects of growth for this year with the across the board revival expected to continue into 2016. Growth will, however, bring some of its own problems.

ČEZ’s annual profits continued their recent slide for 2014 with a further drop expected for this year as well. The upturn is hard to see amid continued weak power prices.

The minister of finance, Andrej Babiš, plans to reduce the value added tax charged in Czech restaurants to 15 percent as part of an amendment introducing the compulsory recording of takings in electronic form. He is set to present the bill to the cabinet next month.

The company Škoda Transportation has won a billion crown tender to modernize 93 rail carriages for the state-owned Czech Railways. The upgraded trains are to be used on the Prague-Hamburg line as of 2016 under a new contract signed with Deutsche Bahn.

With the first warm weather restaurants, pubs and coffee houses in Prague immediately set up outdoor eating spaces – from their own walled-in gardens that offer privacy to simply bringing out chairs and tables on the pavement outside the establishment where tourists can stop to refresh themselves and watch life go by in the city center.

A new small automated hydroelectric facility starts up on the Labe River.

The Czech Republic and South Korea on Thursday upgraded their business ties, signing a strategic partnership agreement. In the course of his working visit to the country, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka expressed the hope that business ties could expand beyond the sphere of car manufacture, and cited defense, infrastructure and nuclear power as promising areas of cooperation.

Inspectors are planning to carry out checks on up to 13,000 restaurants in the Czech Republic this year. Hundreds of controls have already been conducted since the start of 2015, the website Podnikatel.cz reports. Indeed, one of Prague’s best-known establishments has just been shut down after startling shortcomings were discovered on its premises.