31 thousand fewer people in employment than a year before
Economic developments resulting from the coronavirus epidemic have only partially affected the period under review, so their effects are less pronounced in the reported employment data. Over the period of January–March 2020, the average number of employed people was 4,466 thousand; the employment rate of people aged 15–64 was 69.7%. Both sexes saw a decrease, however, employment rate for men was higher than for women.In March 2020, the average monthly number of employed people was 4 million 442 thousand, which is 56 thousand fewer than in the previous month. The employment rate of 15-64 year olds fell by 0.9 percentage point to 69.2% over the same period.
In January–March 2020, compared to a year before:1
The number of employed people decreased by 0.7% to 4,466 thousand. Employment fell by 16 thousand both in the primary labour market and in public work programmes and was unchanged among those working at local units abroad.
Number of employed people aged 15–74, January–March 2020
| Denomination | Number, thousand persons | Change in headcounta) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | % | ||
| Work in the domestic primary labour market | 4,251.2 | –15.9 | –0.4 |
| Consider themselves public workers | 105.0 | –16.0 | –13.2 |
| Work at local units abroad | 109.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Total | 4,465.8 | –31.3 | –0.7 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
Of those aged 15-64, 4 million 386 thousand were classified as employed, with an overall employment rate of 69.7%. The number of the employed among men aged 15–64 declined by 20 thousand to 2,414 thousand, and their employment rate by 0.4 percentage point to 76.9%. Regarding 15–64 year-old women, the number of the employed decreased by 23 thousand to 1,973 thousand, and their employment rate to 62.5%
The number of employed people in the young age group (15–24 years) was 282 thousand, with an employment rate of 28.2%. The ‘best working age’, i.e. the 25–54 age group saw a decline: the number of employed decreased by 39 thousand to 3,401 thousand people, and the employment rate by 1.4 percentage points to 83.1%. In the older, 55–64 age group, the number of the employed was 703 thousand, but their employment rate grew by 2.3 percentage points to 58.4%, partly for demographical reasons.
The employment rate of people aged 20–64 – the coverage regarding the development of employment objectives defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy – was the same as the European Union’s target for 2020, 75%. In Hungary, the employment rate of this age group is currently 82.9% for men and 67.1% for women.
The employment rate of 15–64 year-olds hardly changed, within 1 percentage point, in most regions. Employment was highest in Budapest (with a rate of 74.3%), grew fastest in Western Transdanubia (by 1.0 percentage point to 73.7%) and lowest and fastest declining in Southern Transdanubia (by 3.1 percentage points to 62.5%).
Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age group, January–March 2020
| Age group, year-old | Number | Employment rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | change, thousand personsa) | % | change, percentage pointa) | |
| 15–24 | 282.3 | –3.4 | 28.2 | 0.0 |
| 25–54 | 3,401.4 | –39.2 | 83.1 | –1.4 |
| 55–64 | 702.6 | –1.0 | 58.4 | 2.3 |
| Total | 4,386.4 | –43.7 | 69.7 | –0.2 |
| Of which: 20–64 | 4,362.4 | –38.5 | 75.0 | –0.1 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
In March2 2020
The average monthly number of employed people was 4 million 442 thousand, which is a decrease of 56 thousand compared to the previous month and a decrease of 22 thousand compared to March last year.
The employment rate of 15-64 year olds was 69.2%, down 0.9 percentage point from the previous month, while the decline was 0.2 percentage point from March of the previous year.