According to the latest, seasonally adjusted data compiled by the Eurostat, in April 2015 the unemployment rate was 11.1 percent within the Euro-zone (19 countries), 9.7 percent within the EU (28 member states) and 7.3 percent in Hungary. With this figure, Hungarian unemployment rate has been below the EU average for more than two years.

Eurostat data show that between April 2014 and April 2015, unemployment in Hungary improved by 0.5 percentage points, from 7.8 percent to 7.3 percent. Thus, Hungary performed better than Sweden (7.7 percent), Belgium (8.5 percent), Finland (9.4 percent) or France (10.5 percent). In this period, the rate of employment rose in six member states.

Hungary’s youth unemployment (19.3 percent) is also better than the EU average (20.7 percent), while the Eurostat recorded jobless rates among those aged 16-24 years of 50.1 percent in Greece, 49.6 percent in Spain, 45.5 percent in Croatia and 40.9 percent in Italy.

This remarkable performance – outstanding even from an international perspective – has been the result of effective Government measures such as the Job Protection Action Plan, the First Job Guarantee Programme, housing grants, an SME job creation programme and public work schemes. These measures not only improve the employment situation, but they also boost overall economic growth.

(Ministry for National Economy)