According to the latest Eurostat data, the largest fall regarding the unemployment rate among EU member states over the past one year was registered in Hungary, Ministerial Commissioner Piroska Szalai, responsible for improving the labour market prospects of women, told MTI. Over the past 12 months, within the bloc only 10 countries were capable of cutting unemployment, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged in three and edged higher in 15 of them.

In light of the report published by Eurostat, Hungary’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in February 2014, down by 3.3 percent year-on-year. This figure is the 11th best in the EU, while the EU average was 10.5 percent.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for people under the age of 25 years was down 6.8 percent, whereas that of women improved 2.1 percent. Both respective figures (20.7 percent and 8.3 percent) are better than the EU average and the unemployment rate decreases of these two segments were also the largest in Hungary.

Piroska Szalai stated that this improvement regarding unemployment data between February 2013 and 2014 resulted from the positive effect of the contribution allowance scheme of the Job Protection Action Plan.

(Ministry for National Economy)