38 thousand fewer people in employment than a year before
Over the period of August–October 2020, the average number of employed people1 was 4,482 thousand, 38 thousand fewer than a year earlier. This decrease was caused by a decline in the number of people working abroad but belonging to households in Hungary and the number of public workers. Female employment has decreased significantly (by more than 30 thousand). The employment rate of people aged 15–64 was 70.2%. In October 2020, the average monthly number of employed people was 4.451 thousand, 31 thousand fewer than in the previous month.
In August–October 2020, compared to a year before2:
The number of employed people was 0.8% lower at 4,482 thousand. Employment remained essentially unchanged in the primary labour market, decreased by 17 thousand in the group of those declaring themselves to be public workers and by 25 thousand among members of Hungarian households working abroad.
Number of employed people aged 15–74, August–October 2020
| Denomination | Number, thousand persons | Change in headcounta) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | % | ||
| Work in the domestic primary labour market | 4294.5 | 3.5 | 0.1 |
| Public workersb) | 94.2 | –16.6 | –15.0 |
| Employed persons working abroad and belonging to a household living in Hungary | 93.7 | –24.9 | –21.0 |
| Total | 4482.4 | –38.0 | –0.8 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
b) Based on the respondent's self-classification.
4 million 402 thousand people aged 15–64 were considered employed, the employment rate of this age group was 70.2%. The number of the employed among men aged 15–64 declined somewhat (by 6.3 thousand people) to 2,431 thousand, but their employment rate slightly grew by 0.2 percentage point to 77.6%, partly for demographic reasons. Regarding 15–64 year-old women, the number of the employed decreased by 35 thousand to 1,970 thousand, and their employment rate by 0.5 percentage points to 62.8%.
The number of employed people in the young age group (15–24 years) fell to 274 thousand, and their employment rate to 27.6%. Among the so-called best working age population (25–54 years) the employment rate decreased by 1.2 percentage points to 83.3%. In the older, 55–64 age group, the number of the employed increased by 14 thousand to 714 thousand and the employment rate by 3.4 percentage points to 60.6%, partly for demographic reasons.
For the 20-64 age group, which is the monitoring group for achieving the employment targets set in the Europe 2020 strategy, the employment rate was 75.6%. The European Union has set a target of 75% by 2020, which Hungary has achieved again after a temporary decline due to the coronavirus epidemic. Currently, the employment rate for this age group is 83.7% for men and 67.5% for women.
Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age group, August–October 2020
| Age group, year-old | Number | Employment rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | change, thousand personsa) | % | change, percentage pointa) | |
| 15–24 | 274.1 | –15.3 | 27.6 | –1.1 |
| 25–54 | 3 414.0 | –40.1 | 83.3 | –1.2 |
| 55–64 | 713.7 | 13.8 | 60.6 | 3.4 |
| Total | 4 401.8 | –41.6 | 70.2 | –0.1 |
| Of which: 20–64 | 4 377.7 | –32.9 | 75.6 | 0.1 |
a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
In October3 2020
The average monthly number of employed people was 4 million 451 thousand, 31 thousand fewer than in the previous month, and 72 thousand fewer than in October last year.
The employment rate of 15–64 year olds was 69.6%, down 0.6 percentage point from September and down 0.9 percentage point from October of the previous year.