Prague - The Czech Republic's unemployment rate was down to 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2008, the lowest in more than 11 years, according to government data released Friday.

The April-June reading, which was based on EU-wide International Labour Organization (ILO) methodology, was down by 1.1 points year- on-year and well bellow the three-month eurozone average of slightly above 7.2 per cent, the Czech Statistical Office said.

The fast-growing Czech economy has been troubled by labour shortages following an influx in recent years of foreign investors, mostly car and electronics makers, to the ex-communist Central European state of 10 million.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which bases its data on a number of jobseekers registered with state unemployment authorities, the jobless rate was 5.2 per cent in the second quarter, down by 1.5 percentage points from the same period in 2007. (dpa)