According to a report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) published this morning, the total number of those in employment increased further in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. The number of people in employment aged 15-74 years increased to 3 million 818 thousand and thus their employment rate edged up to 50 percent. In the period January-March 2013, the number of people in employment in the 15-64 year age group was also up from 3 million 756 thousand one year ago to 3 million 787 thousand, an increase of 31 thousand.

In light of the latest KSH labour market statistics, the number of those in employment aged 15-74 years increased by 0.7 percent or 26 thousand people year-on-year, which increase is higher than the 0.6 percent figure registered in the previous period. In the age bracket of 15-64 years, the employment rate edged up from 55.7 percent in the same period of the previous year to 56.6 percent, which constitutes an improvement of 0.9 percent.

As far as the gender aspect of employment is concerned, the employment rate of men aged 15-64 years was 0.7 percentage points higher (to 61.5 percent), while that of women increased more than in the previous period, by 1 percent (to 51.8 percent). Among men aged 15-64 years, 2 million 21 thousand were in employment, while the relevant figure for women was 1 million 765.5 thousand, an increase of 22 thousand.

The employment rate in the 15-24 year age group increased by 0.8 percentage points to 18.3 percent over the past year, and the number of people in employment was 210 thousand in this age group. The employment rate among those of prime working age (25-54 years) improved by 0.3 percentage points, whereas among those aged 55-64 years this indicator was up by 1.8 percentage points. It has been an indisputably positive development that the employment rate for those aged 15-64 years improved in practically every region – with the exception of Western Transdanubia and the Northern Great Plain.

These constantly improving employment figures confirm the effectiveness of the Government’s measures aimed at facilitating the creation and protection of jobs.

(Ministry for National Economy)