Published on: 5 January 2017

Unemployment rate decreased to 4.5% in September-November

In September–November 2016, the number of unemployed people was 208 thousand, 76 thousand fewer than a year earlier, and the unemployment rate decreased by 1.7 percentage points to 4.5%. The improvement was the same for men and women, but men were characterized by slightly lower level of unemployment than women.

In September–November 2016, compared to a year before:

The number of 15–74 year-old unemployed men decreased by 42 thousand to 110 thousand, and their unemployment rate by 1.7 percentage points to 4.4%. The number of unemployed women declined by 34 thousand to 98 thousand, and their unemployment rate by 1.7 percentage points to 4.6%.

The unemployment rate of the 15–24 age group decreased by 3.3 percentage points to 11.8%, but every fifth unemployed still belonged to this age group. The unemployment rate of those aged 25–54, i.e. persons belonging to the ‘best working age’ decreased by 1.6 percentage points to 3.9%, and the rate for persons aged 55–64 fell by 1.5 percentage points to 3.8%.

The average duration of unemployment was 18.1 months; 46.3% of unemployed people had been searching for a job for one year or more, i.e. were long-term unemployed.

At the end of November 2016, compared to a year earlier:

According to the administrative data of the National Employment Service (http://eu.munka.hu/), the total number of registered jobseekers decreased by 22.0% to 274 thousand.

Unemployment among 15–64 year-olds by age groups, September–November 2016

Age group, year-old Number Unemployment rate
thousand persons change, thousand personsa) % change, percentage pointa)
15–2441.5-11.311.8-3.3
25–54138.4-56.13.9-1.6
55–6427.0-8.73.8-1.5
Total206.8-76.14.5-1.7

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