Hungary jobless rate 4.5 pc in February

Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI

The jobless number in February was 213,000, 46,000 more than in the same month a year earlier, rising 1 percentage point to 4.5 percent, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday.

Month on month, the jobless number decreased by 25,000, or 0.5 of a percentage point.

The rolling 3 month average from December to February was 4.5 percent, 1.1 percentage points higher than the previous year.

Meanwhile, in February, the average monthly number of employees aged 15-74 was 4,550,000, 104,000 less than a year earlier but 14,000 more than in the previous month.

From December to February, the average number of employees was 4,574,000, 50,000. or 1.1 percent, less than in the same period of the previous year.

In response to the data release, the state secretary for employment policy at the Ministry of Innovation and Technology noted on public television channel M1 that due to seasonal effects the number of employees increased on a monthly basis in February.

Sándor Bodó noted that

the employment rate was 56-57 percent in 2010, and now it is 71-72 percent, the latter figure based on the European Union’s new calculation method that categorises women on maternity leave as employed.

In 2010, the jobless rate was above 11 percent, he noted, adding that this dropped to 3.3-3.4 percent a year ago and now stands at 4.4-4.5 percent, showing that the pandemic is having an impact.