In Hungary the rate of employment has risen to above 70 per cent, while the number of those in employment has never before been this high; as many as 4,518,000 people are in employment in Hungary, Finance Minister Mihály Varga stated.

The Finance Minister highlighted that the efforts to create a workfare economy have proved to be successful; since 2010, the number of people in employment has increased by more than 20 per cent in Hungary, and with this achievement our country is number one in the region.

In the past nine years, the number of workers has risen from 3.7 million to above 4.5 million which represents an increase of more than 800,000; most of this has emerged in the private sector, Mr Varga pointed out. He said in the private sector there is a steady increase in the number of workers, in just one year the number of people in employment has increased by more than 73,000, while the number of those participating in public works schemes is continuously decreasing. As a result, in Hungary the structure of employment is becoming ever healthier, and parallel with pay rises, this also meaningfully boosts economic growth.

Unemployment has fallen from almost 12 per cent in 2010 to 3.4 per cent which is the fifth lowest in the EU. The goal of the government continues to remain to enable everyone who is able to work to find employment, and to thereby reduce unemployment to below three per cent and to achieve full employment.

Mr Varga recalled that the Hungarian economy’s ever-improving performance is reflected in all the relevant indicators. While employment has risen to above 70 per cent, earnings and consumption are increasing continuously, and industry, the construction industry and investments, too, are doing well. A further reduction in the number of the unemployed could be achieved through targeted employment programmes, measures seeking to enhance activity, the wider spread of flexible forms of employment and the promotion of job-creating investments.

(Ministry of Finance / MTI)