62 thousand more people in work
In the period of January–March 2019, the average number of employed people was 4,497 thousand, 62 thousand more than a year earlier. The employment rate of people aged 15–64 increased to 69.9%. There was an improvement both among men and women, but men were characterized by a higher level of employment than women.
In January–March 2019, compared to a year before:
The number of employed people increased by 1.4% to 4,497 thousand. The increment in the domestic primary labour market was 87 thousand and that for those working at local units abroad was 12 thousand, while the number of people declaring to work in public employment decreased by 37 thousand.
Number of employed people aged 15–74, January–March 2019
| Denomination | Number, thousand persons | Change in headcounta) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | % | ||
| Work in the domestic primary labour market | 4 267.2 | 87.0 | 2.1 |
| Consider themselves public worker | 121.0 | –37.4 | –23.6 |
| Work at local units abroad | 108.9 | 12.4 | 12.8 |
| Total | 4 497.1 | 61.9 | 1.4 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
4,430 thousand of employed people were aged 15–64, and the employment rate of this age group grew by 1.2 percentage points to 69.9%. The number of the employed among men aged 15–64 increased by 35 thousand (1.5%) to 2,434 thousand, and their employment rate rose by 1.4 percentage points to 77.2%. Regarding 15–64 year-old women, the number of the employed grew by 12 thousand to 1,996 thousand, and their employment rate by 1.0 percentage point to 62.6%.
Among young people aged 15–24 years, the employment changed within the limits of sampling error, the number of the employed was 286 thousand and the 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 40 thousand to 3,441 and the employment rate rose by 0.6 percentage point to 84.4%. In the older, 55–64 age group, the number of the employed was 704 thousand, their employment rate grew by 2.5 percentage points to 56.2%.
The employment rate of people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – grew by 1.2 percentage points to 75.1%. The European Union set a target of 75% by 2020; in Hungary, the employment rate of this age group is currently 83.1% for men and 67.1% for women.
The level of employment of the population aged 15–64 hardly changed in most of the regions. The employment situation was still the most favourable in Budapest, the employment rate was 73.8%. The most significant growth was in Southern Transdanubia, 3.3 percentage points, where the level of employment still remains low with a rate of 65.6%. The proportion of the employed was the lowest in Northern Hungary, at 65.4%.
Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age groups, January–March 2019
| Age group, year-old | Number | Employment rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | change, thousand personsa) | % | change, percentage pointa) | |
| 15–24 | 285.8 | –0.2 | 28.2 | 0.5 |
| 25–54 | 3 440.6 | 39.6 | 84.4 | 0.6 |
| 55–64 | 703.7 | 8.3 | 56.2 | 2.5 |
| Total | 4 430.0 | 47.7 | 69.9 | 1.2 |
| Of which: 20–64 | 4 401.0 | 42.8 | 75.1 | 1.2 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.