According to new data published on Wednesday by the Central Statistical Office, 160 thousand more people were in employment in May-July than in the same period last year. The vast majority of these new jobs were created within the private sector, in view of the fact that the number of migrant workers and people employed in public work programmes did not increase significantly during that time, the Ministry of National Economy’s Minister of State for the Labour Market and Training Sándor Czomba said on Wednesday.

The Minister of State emphasised that the number of people in employment has been steadily above 4 million for several months and unemployment has fallen to under 8 percent.

Employment has also improved among young people, with 257 thousand employed in the 15-24 age group, 32 thousand more than one year ago, Mr. Czomba added.

The results were not achieved out of the blue; the Government has launched several well-functioning employment programmes such as the First Workplace Guarantee Programme and funding for work-related accommodation and job creation on the part of small and medium-sized enterprises, Mr. Czomba said, adding that these have clearly had a positive effect on employment in Hungary.

The Minister of State stressed that the Government’s objective during the upcoming period is to keep the number of people in employment permanently over 4 million, to reduce unemployment to the so-called frictional unemployment level of under 300 thousand, and to help the private sector take over from public employment as the engine of growth.

(Ministry of National Economy)