Unemployment rate was 4.1%
The economic consequences of the coronavirus epidemic have already affected the study period in its entirety, so its effects are reflected in the reported unemployment data.In the period of March–May 2020, the average number of unemployed people1 was 190 thousand, and the unemployment rate was 4.1%. Men and women were characterized by almost the same level of unemployment, and the value of the indicator increased to a similar extent for both sexes.In May 2020, the number of unemployed increased by about 28 thousand people compared to the previous month.
In March–May 2020,2 compared to a year before:
Among men aged 15–74, the number of unemployed increased to 104 thousand, and the unemployment rate to 4.1%. In the case of women, the number of unemployed rose to 86 thousand and the unemployment rate to 4.2%
Among people aged 15–24, the number of the unemployed was 37 thousand and their unemployment rate 12.4%. Nearly one fifth of the unemployed belonged to this age group. Unemployment rates for people aged 25–54, being in the so-called best working age grew by 0.8 percentage point to 3.8%, and for people aged 55–74 remained virtually unchanged, with 2.5%.
The average duration of unemployment was 8.5 months; 21.8% of unemployed people had been searching for a job for one year or more, i.e. were long-term unemployed.
Unemployment among 15–74* year-olds by age group, March–May 2020
| Age group, year-old | Number | Unemployment rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thousand persons | change, thousand personsa) | % | change, percentage pointa) | |
| 15–24 | 37.1 | 1.9 | 12.4 | 1.3 |
| 25–54 | 133.1 | 26.4 | 3.8 | 0.8 |
| 55–74 | 20.0 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.2 |
| Total | 190.2 | 29.8 | 4.1 | 0.7 |
* 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.
In May3 2020
The average number of unemployed people was 215 thousand, and the unemployment rate was 4.7%
Compared to the previous month, the number of unemployed increased by 28 thousand and compared to May 2019 by 55 thousand. The unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage point in one month and by 1.2 percentage points in one year.
The number of inactive people decreased significantly, by 59 thousand, as most of those who had previously become unemployed began to actively look for work after the restrictions on personal relationships were lifted. Of these, 31 thousand have started work, increasing employment levels. However, a further 28 thousand, despite actively looking for work and being able to start work within 2 weeks, could not find a job, increasing the number of unemployed according to ILO definitions1 which are also suitable for international comparison.
At the end of May 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 increased by 43.4% to 363 thousand.