Hungary jobless rate falls to 5.5pc in March-May

Budapest, June 28 (MTI) – The average unemployment rate among 15- to 74-year-olds in Hungary fell to 5.5 percent in March-May, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday.

The rate was down from 5.8 percent in February-April and 7.1 percent in the same period a year earlier.

The jobless rate was the same for those aged 15-64 in March-May.

KSH noted that the unemployment rate for career-starters between the ages of 15 and 24 stood at 13.8 percent, dropping 4.0 percentage points in a year. The rate for Hungarians aged 25-54 was 5.0 percent, down 1.3 percentage points, and the rate for 55- to 64-year olds fell 2.0 percentage points to 4.3 percent.

There were 250,700 unemployed in the 15-74 age group in March-May. Their number fell 69,900 in one year.

The number of employed stood at 4,313,800, rising 148,700 year-on-year.

Of those employed in the 15-74 age group, 118,200 worked abroad. The number was up 8,400 — within the margin of error — in twelve months.

There were 224,300 fostered workers among the employed, up 24,800 year-on-year.

The number of people employed on the Hungarian labour market rose 115,600 to 3,971,300 during the period.

The average time spent looking for work was 18.2 months in March-May. About 47.5 percent of the unemployed had been seeking a job for one year or more.

There were 2,942,800 economically inactive Hungarians — those neither employed nor seeking work — during the period, down 112,500 from a year earlier. At the same time, the activity rate rose to 60.8 percent from 59.5 percent.

Source: mtva.hu