New jobs created in the private sector were also behind the increase in employment both over the past one and three years. As a result, according to the latest data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the number of people in employment hit a two-decade high this summer, Minister of State for Employment said at a press conference in Budapest.

In light of data published by the KSH on Friday, the number of those in employment was 3 million 981 thousand in June-August this year, up by 1.7 percent – 67 thousand – compared to the level of one year ago. This summer, the number of unemployed was 440 thousand in Hungary, which is 16 thousand below the figure of the third quarter of 2012; thus, the unemployment rate improved by 0.5 percentage points to 9.9 percent.

At the press conference, Sándor Czomba emphasised that the unemployment rate fell below the 10 percent mark for the first time since summer 2009, which is a favourable tendency.

He added that while formerly employment and unemployment had been rising concurrently, this trend was reversed some months ago and the unemployment trend has turned downward.

As the Minister of State said, the number of economically active people has been increasing steadily and the decreasing number of unemployed people is mainly the consequence of improving employment. In comparison to the period when the new Government took office (March-May 2010) and summer 2010, the number of people in employment was up by 225 thousand and 180 thousand, respectively, in June-August 2013.

Out of the increase of 225 thousand, the number of people employed by public work schemes increased by 89 thousand, while that of those employed by the private sector was almost the same at 88 thousand, Sándor Czomba stressed adding that over the past three years the number of those working abroad increased by 48 thousand.

Speaking about the latter data the Minister of State said that for the labour force survey the KSH gauges fluctuations within one year, thus the number of migrant workers who have been working and living abroad for several years is not indicated by the survey.

Accordingly, it has to be stressed that over the past three years the number of those working abroad increased by 48 thousand on a year-on-year basis. In the view of the Minister of State, the fact that Germany and Austria opened up their labour market for Hungary in May 2012 could also be a factor behind this increase.

Sándor Czomba reminded the audience that the Government predicted already in the 2011 Labour Code that public work schemes will play a key role in improving employment in 2012-2013, as during a recovery period the private sector cannot as effectively contribute to job growth as the Cabinet might wish.

Analysing the number of people in employment within various sectors it can be concluded that growth was attributable mainly to the manufacturing sector – especially to vehicle manufacturing – agriculture and central administration, which also includes the figures for public work employees, the Minister of State said. On the other hand, since the new Government took office the number of employees has decreased in the construction and education sectors, he added.

Sándor Czomba added that the number of those employed in full-time and part-time jobs has also improved since the change of Government by 170 thousand and 54 thousand, respectively. Out of the 3 million 900 thousand people in employment only 300 thousand are employed in part-time jobs, he stressed.

He underlined that the KSH statistics confirmed the adequacy of Government measures -- First Job Guarantee Programme, Job Protection Action Plan – along with steps taken in the field of youth employment: in summer 2013 more than 230 thousand young people aged 15-24 years were in employment, compared to 213 thousand in the same period of the previous year and 221 thousand in summer 2011.

(Ministry for National Economy)