According to the latest Eurostat report, in Q1 2015 Hungary – along with Latvia – recorded the largest quarter-on-quarter employment growth. While this indicator showed growth of 0.1 percent within the Euro-zone (19 member states) and 0.3 percent within the EU28, it improved outstandingly, by 1.5 percent, in Hungary.

Between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015, the number of people in employment was up by 1.5 percent in Hungary. In this regard, Hungary performed better than the Czech Republic (0.8 percent), Poland (0.3 percent) and Slovakia (0.2 percent), while in the observed period this indicator signalled decreases of 0.4 percent in Malta and 0.8 percent in Greece.

Regarding the period Q1 2014 and Q1 2015, Hungary’s employment growth figure was the second largest with 3.4 percent, following that of Estonia (3.6 percent). Year-on-year, employment improved by only 0.8 percent within the Euro-zone and by 1.1 percent within the EU28.

These data aptly demonstrate that while Hungary’s employment has reached the pre-crisis level that of the EU is still far below it. This achievement has been attributable to the Job Protection Action Plan, the First Job Guarantee Programme, housing subsidies and the support of SMEs’ job creation efforts.

(Ministry for National Economy)