Unemployment rate steady at 3.6%
Hungaryʼs rolling average three-month jobless rate reached 3.6% in the period May-July 2018, the same as the preceding three-month period but down from 4.2% in May-July 2017, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Wednesday.
In the period May–July 2018, the average number of unemployed people was 166,200, some 27,200 fewer than a year earlier, and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 of a percentage point to 3.6%.
In May–July, compared to the equivalent period of 2017, the number of jobless men aged 15–74 decreased by 12,000 to 87,000, and their unemployment rate by 0.5 of a percentage point to 3.4%. Regarding women, the rate of change was greater, with the number of jobless declining by 15,000 to 80,000, and the unemployment rate by 0.8 of a percentage point to 3.8%.
Unemployment among people aged 15–24 changed within the limits of the sampling error, with an unemployment rate of 10.2%, down 0.7 of a percentage point year-on-year. One-fifth of the total jobless in Hungary belonged to this age group.
The unemployment rate among the 25–54 age group, i.e. persons belonging to the "best working age," decreased by 0.5 of a percentage point to 3.2%, while joblessness among people aged 55–74 fell by a full 1.0 percentage point to 2.4%.
The average duration of unemployment was 15.5 months; 38.1% of jobless people had been searching for a job for one year or more, i.e. were long-term unemployed.
At the end of July 2018, 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 257,000.
50,000 more people in work y-o-y
In the period May–July 2018, the average number of employed people was 4,483,600, some 50,000 or 1.1% more than a year earlier, according to employment data from the KSH also released today.
In May–July, compared to a year before, the increment in the domestic primary labor market was 92,200, up 2.2%. The number of people declaring work in public employment decreased by 36,700, down 18.7% year-on-year, while the number working abroad was down 5,500, or 4.9%.
The overwhelming majority of employed people were aged 15–64, with the employment rate across this age group growing by 1.1 percentage points to 69.4%.
The number of employed men aged 15–64 increased by 0.5%, and their employment rate rose by 0.7 of a percentage point to 76.3%. Among women aged 15–64, the number of employed grew by 1.5%, and their employment rate by 1.4 percentage points to 62.7%.
Among young people aged 15–24, the employment rate declined by 0.5 of a percentage point to 28.7%. The number of employed people increased in both the "best working age" group, i.e. aged 25–54, and in the older, 55–64 age group, with employment rates growing by 0.7 of a percentage point to 84.6% in the former, and by 2.2 percentage points to 53.9% in the latter age group.
The employment rate among people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – grew by 1.1 percentage points to 74.6%. 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 82.1% for men, and 67.2% for women.
Unemployment and employment data for the next three-month period of June–August 2018 will be published on September 27.
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