The number of economically active people in Hungary in the 15-74 age group went up by 20,000 to 4,765,000 year-on-year in July while the jobless rate stood at 4.2% last month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said. The number of jobless people was 209,000 last month, KSH said. During the period of May-July the number of employed was 4,764,000 on average in the 15-74 age group. The monthly employment rate for the 15-64-year age group went up by 0.3 percentage points to 75.1%. While the number of people working abroad inched up to 109,000, the number of those included in a fostered-work scheme went down by 12,000 to 57,000, KSH said. KSH noted that data from the National Employment Service (NFSZ) show there were 224,000 registered jobseekers at the end of July, down 1.4% from twelve months earlier. It said that seeking a job took on average 9.7 months.
Commenting on the data, the national economy ministry’s state secretary said that the figures indicated that Hungary was the seventh among EU member states with the lowest unemployment rate. The July data show the effectiveness of programmes aimed at boosting activity in the labour market, Sándor Czomba said in a statement. He said the government’s goal since 2010 had remained to increase the number of employed, adding that the number of registered job-seekers continued to be “at a historic low.” “The government’s aim is to mobilise the close to 300,000 labour reserve in the domestic market to increase employment in the 20-64 age group to 85% from 81% at present,” Czomba said.