Prague, April 10 (CTK) - The decline in March unemployment was due to a fast growth of the Czech economy and partly thanks to a launch of seasonal work, analysts polled by CTK said today.

The decrease in jobless rate should continue in the months to come, but the structure of the labour market prevents a more significant decline, the experts added.

The number of jobless people ready to start work immediately dropped by more than 13,000 month-on-month to 479,984 in March. Unemployment rate dipped to 8.8 percent in March from 9.1 percent a month earlier. The development was in line with analyst expectations.

"The fact that the number of new non-seasonal jobs increased considerably over the past two months is important," said Jan Vejmelek of Komercni banka.

The number of job seekers per vacancy amounted to 7.3 in March, which Vejmelek says is the best figure since August 2001.

Vladimir Pikora of Next Finance said the current jobless rate was still high with respect to economic growth exceeding six percent.

"The problem rests in the so-called structural unemployment, which means employers offer jobs but find it difficult to find suitable employees," he said.

Because of growing structural unemployment, the March unemployment result is embarrassed, said David Marek of Patria Finance. The reason is that seasonally adjusted data show that the moderate decline in unemployment has stopped and jobless rate was stagnant for the whole first quarter.

In April, unemployment should decrease more significantly thanks to seasonal jobs, said Pavel Sobisek of HVB Bank.

"Unemployment rate could decrease to eight percent in May, which will represent its bottom for that moment," he said, adding that a further decline would depend on structural changes on the labour market.

The recent flooding could be one of the contributors to the decline in unemployment in the coming months because it will require a number of activities such as cleaning, repairs and new construction, said Michal Brozka of Raiffeisenbank.

"For the full year 2006, average unemployment rate could reach 8.4 percent, according to our new estimates," he added.

In the long-run, unemployment in the Czech Republic could fall below eight percent only in 2007, Pikora said.