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Unemployment in the Czech Republic rose in December following a four-month decline, going from 3.5 in November to 3.8 percent. The figure was released on Tuesday by the Czech Labour Office and, despite the rise, is the lowest for the period of December in 20 years. In all, some 280,000 people job seekers were registered.

The Czech auto sector, both cars and components, is booming. But the boom is not shared equally between the country’s biggest producers. While the biggest manufacturer, Škoda Auto, is hard pressed to keep up with demand, Hyundai saw production drop slightly last year and the trend is set to continue in 2018.

At of the start of 2018, a new amendment to the Food Act came into effect in the Czech Republic, requiring all supermarkets over 400 square metres to donate unsold but still consumable food to charities. The main aim of the new regulation is to reduce food waste.

Retailers have continued to register high sales even after Christmas, rivalling that of pre-holiday spending and marking a rise of roughly five percent year-on-year, according to the Czech News Agency. Many e-shops slashed prices on December 26 as did stone-and-mortar shops when they reopened a day later.

More than 94 percent of Czechs admit to, at one time or another, having flirted at work. Polls also suggest that often flirting turns into short-lived romances or extramarital affairs.

As Czechs hit the shops with a vengeance for the traditional post-Christmas and New Year sales, retailers are expecting record profits. But consumer protection experts warn than not all buys are as advantageous as they are made out to be.

The Czech central bank and leading retail banks have agreed to introduce almost immediate inter-bank payments by the end of 2018. While many of the technical questions have already been broached a testing period to make sure everything works is needed.

A law passed last year forces large stores in the Czech Republic to shut their doors on seven state holidays every year, including at Christmas. However, the issue is now back in the news, with the opposition Civic Democrats pushing to have the legislation overturned and the governing ANO declaring a neutral stance.

A Czech company has sold the first apartment in the Czech Republic using bitcoin currency, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported on Thursday. The apartment in Prague’s Strašnice district was bought by a Russian citizen last month for 35 bitcoins, which was more than five million crowns at the time.

The Christmas shopping spree in the Czech Republic hit its peak on Monday, December 11, with Czechs spending more than one billion crowns in e-shops in a single day, the Association for Electronic Commerce said on Wednesday. According to the price comparison website Heureka.cz, online stores recorded nearly two-and-a-half million orders.