Published on: 27 September 2018

39 thousand more people in work than a year earlier

In the period of June–August 2018, the average number of employed people was 4,484 thousand, 39 thousand more than a year earlier. The employment rate of people aged 15–64 increased to 69.4%. There was an improvement both among men and women, but men were characterized by a higher level of employment than women.

In June–August 2018, compared to a year before:

The number of employed people increased by 0.9% to 4,484 thousand. The increment in the domestic primary labour market was 90 thousand, while the number of people declaring to work in public employment decreased by 42 thousand, and that of those working at local units abroad by 9 thousand.

Number of employed people aged 15–74, June–August 2018

Denomination Number, thousand persons Change in headcounta)
thousand persons %
Work in the domestic primary labour market4 229.890.02.2
Consider themselves public worker148.9–41.8–21.9
Work at local units abroad104.9–9.0–7.9
Total4 483.639.20.9

a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.

4,421 thousand of employed people were aged 15–64, and the employment rate of this age group grew by 0.8 percentage point to 69.4%. The number of the employed among men aged 15–64 increased by 0.6% to 2,420 thousand, and their employment rate rose by 0.8 percentage point to 76.5%. Regarding 15–64 year-old women, the number of the employed grew by 0.4% to 2,001 thousand, and their employment rate by 0.8 percentage point to 62.4%.

Among young people aged 15–24 years, the number of the employed decreased to 298 thousand and the employment rate was 29.1%. In the ‘best working age’, i.e. the age group 25–54 years, both the number of employed people and the employment rate increased; the latter by 0.4 percentage point to 84.3%. In the older, 55–64, age group, the number of the employed increased too within the limits of the sampling error, and their employment rate grew by 1.9 percentage points to 54.2%.

The employment rate of people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – grew by 0.8 percentage point to 74.5%. 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 82.3% for men and 66.9% for women.

Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age groups, June–August 2018

Age group, year-old Number Employment rate
thousand persons change, thousand personsa) % change, percentage pointa)
15–24298.2–10.129.1–0.5
25–543 429.328.884.30.4
55–64693.24.454.21.9
Total4 420.723.169.40.8
Of which: 20–644 392.220.874.50.8

a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.