Unemployment rate decreased to 3.8%
In the period of July–September 2018, the average number of unemployed people was 178 thousand, 10 thousand fewer than a year earlier, and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 3.8%. Although there was an improvement both among men and women, the unemployment rate of women exceeded that of men.
In July–September 2018, compared to a year before:
The number of the unemployed among 15–74 year-old men decreased by 5 thousand to 86 thousand, and their unemployment rate by 0.2 percentage point to 3.4%. Regarding women, the number of the unemployed also declined by 5 thousand to 93 thousand, and the unemployment rate by 0.3 percentage point to 4.4%. The changes, both for men and women, were within the limits of sampling error.
Among people aged 15–24, the unemployment essentially didn’t change, their number was 36 thousand, and their unemployment rate was 10.7%. More than one-fifth of the unemployed belonged to this age group. The unemployment rate of the age group 25–54, i.e. persons belonging to the ‘best working age’, stagnated too, it was 3.4%, while that of people aged 55–74 decreased by 0.7 percentage point to 2.7%.
The average duration of unemployment was 15.1 months; 40.4% of unemployed people had been searching for a job for one year or more, i.e. were long-term unemployed.
The unemployment rate of people aged 15–74 fell in Southern Transdanubia and Northern Hungary, by 2.0 percentage points to 4.4% in the former and by 1.0 percentage point to 4.7% in the latter region. The changes in other regions remained within the limits of sampling error. The unemployment rate was the highest at 6.9% in Northern Great Plain and the lowest at 1.9% in Central Transdanubia.
At the end of September 2018, compared to a year earlier:
According to the administrative data of the National Employment Service (https://nfsz.munka.hu/), the total number of registered jobseekers decreased by 6.5% to 251 thousand.
Unemployment among 15–74* year-olds by age groups, July–September 2018
| Age group, year-old | Number | Unemployment rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | change, thousand personsa) | % | change, percentage pointa) | |
| 15–24 | 36.5 | –2.5 | 10.7 | –0.6 |
| 25–54 | 121.0 | –3.3 | 3.4 | –0.1 |
| 55–74 | 20.8 | –4.5 | 2.7 | –0.7 |
| Total | 178.2 | –10.3 | 3.8 | –0.2 |
* Data of the 15–64 age group are available (2.1.0.2. STADAT-table).
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.