According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) published earlier this morning, positive labour market trends are continuing. In the period January-March 2014, the number of people in employment aged 15-74 years increased to 4 million 78 thousand, the highest figure since 1992.
In comparison to the first quarter of 2010, the number of people in employment was thus up by 360 thousand. The private sector has been increasingly behind employment growth which proves the effectiveness of the Government’s employment programmes such as the Job Protection Action Plan, home subsidies and the First Job Guarantee Programme. The unemployment rate has also improved significantly as it declined to 8.3 percent following a drop of 3.4 percentage points year-on-year, the best data since the end of 2008.
In Q1 2014, the number of people in employment was 4 million 78 thousand, up by 6.8 percent year-on-year. In January-March 2014, the number of men aged 15-64 years in employment was 2 million 189 thousand and their respective employment rate edged up by 5.5 percentage points to 67 percent. The employment rate of women aged 15-64 years exceeded 55 percent for the first time ever. In the four years between Q1 2010 and Q 2014 Hungary’s employment rate improved by 5.1 percent. Thus, the gap between the EU average and the Hungarian employment rate has narrowed to a record low, from 8 percent four years ago to 3 percent. Nowadays 134 thousand more women are in employment compared to the spring of 2010.
The number of those aged 15-24 years in employment was 253 thousand, as the employment rate within this age bracket improved by 4.2 percentage points to 22.5 percent compared to January-March 2013. With regard to those aged 15-64 years, the employment rate improved in each of the altogether seven Hungarian regions. By Q1 2014, over the course of one year, the number of unemployed people dropped by 139 thousand to 370 thousand, while the unemployment rate fell by 3.5 percentage points to 8.3 percent. At the end of March 2014, the number of registered jobseekers was 431 thousand, down by 30.4 percent compared to March 2013.
Steady employment growth, declining unemployment, rising real wages, remarkable industrial output growth and improving domestic consumption are signalling that the Government’s 2014 economic growth target of above 2 percent will be met. Employment data of the manufacturing, services and construction sectors are confirming Hungary’s economic revival.
Detailed are available at ksh.hu.
(Ministry for National Economy)
