Wages still vary widely between western and eastern Hungary

Differences between the country’s western and eastern halves have diminished in many respects but wages still vary widely, daily Magyar Nemzet said on Saturday, citing fresh data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

KSH reported that average monthly net wages in the first half of 2017 were the highest in the western counties of Hungary and Budapest, with an average monthly wage of 246,000 forints (EUR 789) in the capital, 200,000 forints in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, 189,000 forints and 184,000 forints in Komárom-Esztergom and Fejér counties, respectively.

At the same time, average wages in the northeastern counties and in the southeast remained below 150,000 forints,

with the lowest average wage of 134,000 forints (EUR 430) reported from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county.

While unemployment shows a downward trend across Hungary, jobless rates are still high in the eastern counties and in the southwest. Unemployment is the highest in Szabolcs county, at 8.8 percent, with 7.6 percent joblessness registered in Baranya county and around 7 percent in Jaóász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Somogy and and Nográd counties in the second quarter of this year. Unemployment is the lowest in the northwest, Budapest and Pest county in central Hungary, where the jobless rate is between 1.6 percent and 3.1 percent, the paper said.

Source: MTI