Unemployment rate was 3.5%
Economic developments resulting from the coronavirus epidemic have not yet affected this period, so their effects are not yet felt in labour market data. In the period of December 2019–February 2020, the average number of unemployed people was 164 thousand, and the unemployment rate was 3.5%. Men and women were characterised by almost the same level of unemployment, with this indicator stagnating for women and improving for men.
In December 2019–February 2020, compared to a year before:
The unemployment among 15–74 year-old men decreased to 87 thousand and the unemployment rate to 3.4%. Regarding women, the number of the unemployed totalled 77 thousand, and the unemployment rate was 3.6%.
Among people aged 15–24, the number of the unemployed decreased to 35 thousand and their unemployment rate to 10.9%. More than a fifth of the unemployed belonged to this age group. Unemployment rates for people aged 25–54, being in the so-called best working age, and for people aged 55–74 remained virtually unchanged, with 3.1% for the former and 2.2% for the latter group.
The average duration of unemployment was 10.7 months; 30.8% of unemployed people had been searching for a job for one year or more, i.e. were long-term unemployed.
At the end of February 2020, 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 0.6% to 264 thousand.
Unemployment among 15–74* year-olds by age group, December 2019–February 2020
| Age group, year-old | Number | Unemployment rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | change, thousand personsa) | % | change, percentage pointa) | |
| 15–24 | 34.7 | –4.5 | 10.9 | –0.9 b) |
| 25–54 | 111.3 | 0.9b) | 3.1 | 0.0 b) |
| 55–74 | 17.7 | –0.8 b) | 2.2 | –0.1 b) |
| Total | 163.7 | –4.4 b) | 3.5 | –0.1 b) |
* 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.
b) Change within the sampling margin.