Published on: 27 November 2019

18 thousand more people in work

Over the period of August–October 2019, the average number of employed people was 4,520 thousand, 18 thousand more than a year earlier. The employment rate of people aged 15–64 increased to 70.3%. The level of employment tended to be higher among men than among women.

In August–October 2019, compared to a year before:

The number of employed people increased by 0.4% to 4,520 thousand. The increase in the domestic primary labour market was 30 thousand and that for those working at local units abroad was 11 thousand, while the number of people declaring to work in public employment decreased by 22 thousand.

Number of employed people aged 15–74, August–October 2019

Denomination Number, thousand persons Change in headcounta)
thousand persons %
Work in the domestic primary labour market4,291.029.70.7
Consider themselves public workers110.8–22.0–16.6
Work at local units abroad118.710.69.8
Total4,520.518.40.4

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

A total of 4,443 thousand employed people were aged 15–64, and the employment rate of this age group grew by 0.5 percentage point to 70.3%. The number of the employed among men aged 15–64 was 2,438 thousand, and their employment rate rose by 0.5 percentage point to 77.4%. Regarding 15–64 year-old women, the number of the employed remained unchanged at 2,006 thousand, and their employment rate increased by 0.6 percentage point to 63.3%.

The number of employed people among young people aged 15–24 years decreased by 17 thousand to 289 thousand people, and the employment rate by 1.2 percentage points to 28.7%. In the ‘best working age’, i.e. the 25–54 age group, the number of employed people increased by 29 thousand to 3,454 thousand people, and the employment rate was 84.5%. In the older, 55–64 age group, the number of the employed was 700 thousand people, and their employment rate grew by 1.6 percentage points to 57.2%.

The employment rate of people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – grew by 0.6 percentage point to 75.5%. The European Union has set a target of 75% by 2020; in Hungary, the employment rate of this age group is currently 83.2% for men and 67.9% for women.

Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age group, August–October 2019

Age group, year-old Number Employment rate
thousand persons change, thousand personsa) % change, percentage pointa)
15–24289.3–16.828.7–1.2
25–543,454.128.684.50.2
55–64699.9–7.357.21.6
Total4,443.34.570.30.5
Of which: 20–644,410.62.375.50.6

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