According to the latest figures published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the total number of those in employment increased again in comparison to the corresponding period of 2012. In the period April-June 2013, the number of those in employment aged 15-74 years was up by 55 thousand or 1.4 per cent, to 3 million 931 thousand, compared to the same period of the previous year. In light of these statistics, in the second quarter 2013 the employment rate among those aged 15-74 years improved to 51.5 per cent compared to the same period of 2012.
In April-June 2013, as far as the gender aspect of employment is concerned, indicators improved for both sexes. Among men aged 15-64 years, the employment rate edged 2.1 per cent higher, to 64.4 per cent, compared to the second quarter of the previous year, while the respective improvement for women was 0.2 percentage points (52.4 per cent).
Positive trends can be observed with regard to the employment indicators of different age groups as well. In the second quarter of 2013, the number of those in employment was 219 thousand among young people aged 15-24 years, and thus the employment rate was 1.4 percentage points higher than the figure recorded one year ago. The employment rate among those in prime working age (25-54 years) improved by 0.9 percentage points, whereas among older people, aged 55-64 years this indicator was up by 1.2 percentage points compared to the level of one year ago.
As for the geographical aspect, employment rate improved in almost every region as well. The largest increase (3.4 percentage points) was registered in the Southern Transdanubia region, where the employment rate is thus already 56 per cent. The highest employment rate was recorded in Central Hungary, where the respective figure was 62.8 per cent thanks to an increase of 0.9 percentage points.
Favourable unemployment trends have also continued. According to KSH data, in the observed period the number of unemployed decreased by 23 thousand to 449 thousand, and the unemployment rate improved by 0.6 percentage points to 10.3 per cent compared to the second quarter 2012. The unemployment rate for those in prime working age, 25-54 years, fell by 0.7 percentage points to 9.3 per cent in April-June 2013. With the current figures Hungary’s labour market has reached the pre-crisis level of 2008.
A lower jobless figure is insufficient in itself; good results must be underpinned by employment programmes, Sándor Czomba, Minister of State for Employment Policy emphasized when speaking about the job creation tenders announced for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. As he said, this year the National Employment Fund had HUF 13 billion to spend on this objective and it has been allocated as non-refundable grants to 1139 enterprises for establishing 6500 new jobs.
30 July 2013
