According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) published earlier this morning, the number of those in employment continued to increase compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the period February-April 2013, the number of people in employment among those aged 15-74 years increased to 3 million 869 thousand, and the employment rate for this age group edged up to 50.7 percent. The number of people with a job in the 15-64 year age bracket increased from 3 million 775 thousand to 3 million 836 thousand, by 61 thousand.

In light of the latest KSH labour market statistics, the number of those in employment among people aged 15-74 years was up by 1.5 percent, or 58 thousand, year-on-year. The employment rate for the 15-64 year age group went up from 56.1 percent in the same period of the previous year to 57.3 percent, an increase of 1.2 percentage points.

In February-April 2013, as far as the gender aspect of employment is concerned, indicators show further improvement for both sexes. The employment rate of men aged 15-64 years was up by 1.2 percentage points to 62.6 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, while the respective rate for women improved by 1.1 percentage points (to 52.2 percent).

Another favourable trend has been that the employment rate for young people aged 15-24 years increased by 1.4 percentage points to almost 19 percent over the past one year; thus 216 thousand people of this age group were in employment. It has also been a positive sign that the employment rate for the top age bracket, 55-64 years, was up significantly by 1.6 percentage points in comparison to the level one year ago.

The Government continues to be committed to increasing the number of those in employment. Recent figures also confirm the positive labour market effects of the Job Protection Action Plan and other employment-boosting measures of the Government.

(Ministry for National Economy)