According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) published this morning, the total number of those in employment increased again in comparison to the corresponding period of 2012.

In the period April-June 2013, the number of those in employment aged 15-74 years was up by 55 thousand or 1.4 percent, to 3 million 931 thousand, compared to the same period of the previous year. In the age group of 15-64 years, the number of those in employment edged up to 3 million 899 thousand, an increase of 60 thousand or 1.6 percent.

In light of the latest labour market statistics of the KSH, in Q2 2013 the employment rate among those aged 15-74 years improved by 0.9 percent to 51.5 percent compared to the same period of 2012. In the age group of 15-64 years, the employment rate increased from 57.2 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year to 58.3 percent, which corresponds to an improvement of 1.1 percentage points.

In April-June 2013, as far as the gender aspect of employment is concerned, indicators improved for both sexes. Among men aged 15-64 years, the employment rate edged 2.1 percent higher, to 64.4 percent, compared to the second quarter of the previous year, while the respective improvement for women was 0.2 percentage points (52.4 percent).

Positive trends can be observed with regard to the employment indicators of different age groups as well. In Q2 2013, the number of those in employment was 219 thousand among young people aged 15-24 years, and thus the 19.2 percent employment rate was 1.4 percentage points higher than the figure recorded one year ago. The employment rate among those in prime working age (25-54 years) improved by 0.9 percentage points, whereas among older people, aged 55-64 years, this indicator was up by 1.2 percentage points compared to the level of one year ago.

The employment rate for those aged 15-64 years improved in each region -- with the exception of Western Transdanubia. The largest increase (3.4 percentage points) was registered in the Southern Transdanubia region, where the employment rate is thus already 56 percent. The highest employment rate was recorded in Central Hungary, where the respective figure was 62.8 percent thanks to an increase of 0.9 percentage points.
Favourable unemployment trends have also continued. According to KSH data, in the observed period the number of unemployed decreased by 23 thousand to 449 thousand, and the unemployment rate improved by 0.6 percentage points to 10.3 percent compared to Q2 2012. The unemployment rate for those in prime working age, 25-54 years, fell by 0.7 percentage points to 9.3 percent in April-June 2013.

(Ministry for National Economy)