Published on: 29 July 2019

36 thousand more people in work

In the period of April–June 2019, the average number of employed people was 4,511 thousand, 36 thousand more than a year earlier. The employment rate of people aged 15–64 increased to 70.0%. The level of employment was higher among men than among women, and the rate of improvement was also higher for men.

In April–June 2019, compared to a year before:

The number of employed people increased by 0.8% to 4,511 thousand. The increment in the domestic primary labour market was 85 thousand and that for those working at local units abroad was 10 thousand, while the number of people declaring to work in public employment decreased by 58 thousand.

Number of employed people aged 15–74, April–June 2019

Denomination Number, thousand persons Change in headcounta)
thousand persons %
Work in the domestic primary labour market4 285.084.52.0
Consider themselves public worker108.7–58.4–34.9
Work at local units abroad117.210.19.4
Total4 510.936.30.8

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

4,434 thousand of employed people were aged 15–64, and the employment rate of this age group grew by 0.7 percentage point to 70.0%. The number of the employed among men aged 15–64 increased by 19 thousand to 2,429 thousand, and their employment rate rose by 0.9 percentage point to 77.1%. Regarding 15–64 year-old women, the number of the employed grew to 2,005 thousand, and their employment rate changed to 63.0%.

The number of employed among young people aged 15–24 years decreased by 10 thousand to 285, their employment rate was 28.2%. In the ‘best working age’, i.e. the age group 25–54 years, the number of employed people increased by 18 thousand to 3,453 and the employment rate was 84.6%. In the older, 55–64 age group, the number of the employed was 696 thousand, their employment rate grew by 2.6 percentage points to 56.1%.

The employment rate of people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – grew by 0.7 percentage point to 75.2%. The European Union set a target of 75% by 2020; in Hungary, the employment rate of this age group is currently 82.8% for men and 67.7% for women.

Employment rates for 15-64 year-olds hardly changed in most regions. Western Transdanubia was characterized by the most favorable employment situation, where the employment rate was 74.2%. The growth was most significant, with 1.3 percentage points, in Pest Region, where the employment rate was 71.4%. The proportion of the employed was the lowest in Southern Transdanubia, at 65.5%.

Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age groups, April–June 2019

Age group, year-old Number Employment rate
thousand persons change, thousand personsa) % change, percentage pointa)
15–24285.3–10.228.2–0.6
25–543 452.818.184.60.1
55–64695.67.656.12.6
Total4 433.815.570.00.7
Of which: 20–644 403.411.075.20.7

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