Prague - The official data about the July unemployment rate in the country published this week are not very optimistic. It has not risen so steeply since the fall of communism, experts say.

The jobless rate has increased from 8 percent in June to 8.4 percent in July compared last years 5.3 percent.

More than the economic downturn it is the graduates that have left school in the month of June to seek jobs that caused the rise in the number of the unemployed.

The worst is yet to come. Analysts expect the number of the jobless will reach its peak at the beginning of 2010.

"The unemployment rate will be around 10 percent in the first half of 2010. The reason for that is the country's dependence on the car industry and export," said David Karlsbol, Saxo Bank analyst.

In total, there are about 485,319 people without a job, which is by 21,764 more than in June this year.

The end of July 2009 also saw 21,489 graduates that registered in unemployment bureaus.

As usual, the highest number of the unemployed is mainly in the north-Bohemian region of the town of Most (16.3 percent), Karviná in north-east Bohemia (14.6) and Šumperk in northern part of the country (14.2).

As usual, the lowest jobless numbers are in Prague (around 3 percent).