Positive labour market trends continued in Hungary. In the period October-December 2014, the number of people in employment aged 15-74 years was up by 172 thousand, to 4 million 142 thousand. The unemployment rate has been around 7 percent over the past months and currently it is at 7.1 percent. Steady private sector employment growth has been gaining weight as a factor behind the favourable trend.

In the age group of 15-64 years, employment rate improved by 3.2 percentage points year-on-year, to 62.6 percent. As far as the gender aspect of employment is concerned, indicators have been up for both men and women. The employment rate of men aged 15-64 years increased by 3.3 percentage points to 68.6 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, while the indicator for women was 3.2 percentage points higher, reaching 56.8 percent, an outstanding figure in the European Union.

In comparison to data from the same period in the previous year, the employment rate of those aged 15-24 years increased by 3.2 percentage points, thus the respective number of people with a job was 273 thousand.

In the observed period, the number of unemployed people fell by 80 thousand, to 319 thousand, and thus the unemployment rate improved by 2 percentage points to 7.1 percent year-on-year. A large drop was registered in the unemployment rate of women aged 15-24 years, as it fell by 9.5 percentage points to 16.5 percent. This has been the lowest fourth quarter unemployment rate figure for young women since 2004.

Lowering taxes on labour, the Job Protection Action Plan, the Government’s employment measures and the positive economic trend reversal of 2013 have played a significant role in employment growth.

For detailed data please see www.ksh.hu

(Ministry for National Economy)