36 thousand more people in work than a year earlier
In the period of October–December 2017, the average number of employed people was 4,447 thousand, 36 thousand more than a year earlier. The employment rate of people aged 15–64 increased to 68.8%. The level of employment was higher among men than among women, and the rate of improvement was also higher for them.
The annual average number of the employed was 4,421 thousand in 2017, exceeding by 70 thousand that of the previous year. The employment rate among the population aged 15–64 was 68.2% in 2017, 1.6 percentage points higher than in 2016.
In October–December 2017, compared to a year before:
The number of employed people increased by 0.8% to 4,447 thousand. The increment in the domestic primary labour market was 88 thousand, while the number of people declaring to work in public employment decreased by 39 thousand and that of those working at local units abroad by 13 thousand.
Number of employed people aged 15–74, October–December 2017
| Denomination | Number, thousand persons | Change in headcounta) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | % | ||
| Work in the domestic primary labour market | 4 166.0 | 88.4 | 2.2 |
| Consider themselves public worker | 178.4 | –39.3 | –18.0 |
| Work at local units abroad | 103.0 | –12.7 | –11.0 |
| Total | 4 447.4 | 36.4 | 0.8 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
4,398 thousand of employed people were aged 15–64, and the employment rate of this age group grew by 1.3 percentage points to 68.8%. The number of the employed among men aged 15–64 increased by 1.9% to 2,409 thousand, and their employment rate rose by 2.1 percentage points to 76.1%. Regarding 15–64 year-old women, the number of the employed was essentially stagnant, 1,989 thousand, while their employment rate – due to demographic changes – grew by 0.5 percentage point to 61.7%.
Among young people aged 15–24 years, the number of the employed was 304 thousand, and the employment rate was 29.3%. The number of employed people increased both in the ‘best working age’, i.e. the age group 25–54 years and in the older, 55–64 age group, the employment rate grew by 1.1 percentage points to 84.0% in the former and by 1.9 percentage points to 53.0% in the latter age group.
The employment rate of people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – grew by 1.4 percentage points to 73.9%. The European Union targeted to raise the average employment rate to 75% by 2020; in Hungary, the employment rate of this age group is currently 81.9% for men and 66.2% for women.
The level of employment of the population aged 15–64 increased in all of the regions except Southern Transdanubia which was characterized by stagnation. The most significant growth of 2.2 percentage points occurred in Western Transdanubia. The employment rate was the highest in Central Hungary (72.6%) and the lowest in Southern Transdanubia (63.3%), the difference between the two regions was 9.3 percentage points.
Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age groups, October–December 2017
| Age group, year-old | Number | Employment rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | change, thousand personsa) | % | change, percentage pointa) | |
| 15–24 | 303.6 | –6.6 | 29.3 | 0.1 |
| 25–54 | 3 402.3 | 34.3 | 84.0 | 1.1 |
| 55–64 | 691.9 | 7.3 | 53.0 | 1.9 |
| Total | 4 397.7 | 35.0 | 68.8 | 1.3 |
| Of which: 20–64 | 4 370.7 | 32.8 | 73.9 | 1.4 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
In January–December 2017, compared to a year before:
The number of the employed increased by 70 thousand to 4,421 thousand. The increment in the domestic primary labour market was 103 thousand, while the number of people declaring to work in public employment decreased by 27 thousand and that of those working at local units abroad fell within the limits of the sampling error, by 7 thousand.
4,373 thousand of the employed belonged to the population aged 15–64, the employment rate of this age group increased by 1.6 percentage points to 68.2%. The growth was higher for men, their rate rose by 2.2 percentage points to 75.2%, while that of women by 1.0 percentage point to 61.3%.
All the observed age groups were characterized by a growth in the employment rates. The employment rate of young people increased by 0.8 percentage point to 29.0%, and that of those in the ‘best working age’, the 25–54 age group grew by 1.4 percentage points to 83.7%. The highest increment occurred among the elderly population aged 55-64, their employment rate was by 1.8 percentage points higher, 51.7%.
In the age group 20–64, the rate rose by 1.7 percentage points to 73.3%.