Unemployment rate down to 4%
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In the period August–October 2017, the three-month rolling average number of unemployed people was 183,000, some 36,000 fewer than a year earlier, with the jobless rate decreasing by 0.7 of a percentage point to 4%. The unemployment rate was lower for men than for women, and the rate of improvement was also higher among men.
The Central Statistical Office (KSH) released unemployment figures for August-October 2017, which show a continuation of the decreasing trend in joblessness.
In August–October 2017, compared to the corresponding period of 2016, the jobless rate among men aged 15–74 fell by 1.1 percentage points to 3.5%. Regarding women, the change was smaller, as their unemployment rate fell by 0.4 of a percentage point to 4.6%.
The unemployment rate in the 15–24 age group decreased by 1.5 percentage points to 11.1%, with one-fifth of total jobless people belonging to this age group in the period concerned.
The unemployment rate of those aged 25–54 - i.e. persons belonging to the ‘best working age’ - decreased by 0.7 of a percentage point to 3.4%, while the rate for persons aged 55–64 fell by 0.6 of a percentage point to 3.3%.
The average duration of unemployment was 16.1 months; 42.1% of unemployed people had been searching for a job for one year or more, i.e. were long-term unemployed.
As of the end of October 2017, compared to a year earlier, administrative data of the National Employment Service (NFSz) show that the total number of registered job seekers decreased by 6.3% to 260,000.
Some 0.9% more people in work than year earlier
Figures for employment, also released by the KSH today, show that in the period August–October 2017, the average number of employed people aged 15-74 was 4,445,000, some 41,000 more than a year earlier, an increase of 0.9%.
The employment rate among people aged 15–64 increased by 1.4 percentage points to 68.7%. The number of employed men aged 15–64 rose by 1.7%, and their employment rate rose by 2.0 percentage points to 75.9%.
Regarding 15–64-year-old women, the number of employed did not change, while their employment rate – due to demographic changes – grew by 0.7 of a percentage point to 61.7%.
Among young people aged 15–24 years, the employment rate was 29.4%. The number of employed people increased in the ‘best working age,’ i.e. the 25–54 age group, as did their employment rate, by 1.3 percentage points to 84.1%.
As for the older, 55–64 age group, the number of employed remained essentially stagnant, while their employment rate grew by 1.3 percentage points to 52.3%.
The employment rate among people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – grew by 1.5 percentage points to 73.8%. The European Union has targeted raising the average employment rate to 75% by 2020; in Hungary, the employment rate in this age group is currently 81.7% for men and 66.2% for women.
Both unemployment and employment figures for September–November 2017 will be published by the KSH on January 4, 2018.
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