According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) published this morning, the number of those in employment has been rising steadily. In the period of January-March 2015, the number of those in employment aged 15-74 years increased year-on-year by 79 thousand, to 4 million 117 thousand, thanks mainly to the positive private sector job trend.

Thus, this indicator has stayed above the 4 million mark for 14 consecutive months, while the number of unemployed people has been below the threshold of 400 thousand for more than one year.

The employment rate for those aged 15-64 years edged up to 62.4 percent, while the employment indicators for both men and women have improved. The number of men in employment aged 15-64 years was 2 million 204 thousand; their respective employment rate increased by 1.8 percentage points to 68.3 percent. The employment rate of women has been 56.7 percent for six months now. Due to seasonal effects, employment usually shows a decline in the first quarter of every year, but in this regard, women bucked the trend, clearly owing to private sector job growth. The number of people in employment aged 15-24 years was 264 thousand, which shows that the employment rate improved by 1.3 percentage points, to 23.9 percent.

In the observed period, the number of jobless people was 17 thousand lower year-on-year. Accordingly, the number of unemployed people fell to 348 thousand, and the respective unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 7.8 percent.

Rebounding employment, higher wages in real terms and the upturn in consumption are further improving the financial status of Hungarian families and boosting economic growth. On the other hand, the well-aimed employment policies of the Government underpin further employment growth.

For detailed data please visit www.ksh.hu.

(Ministry for National Economy)