4 million 699 thousand people in employment, unemployment rate at 4.5%
In January 2024, the average number of employed persons aged 15–74 was essentially unchanged from the same period of the previous year, at 4 million 699 thousand. The number of unemployed persons was 222 thousand and the unemployment rate was 4.5%.1
Employment, November 2023 – January 2024
In the period November 2023–January 2024, the average number of employed persons aged 15-74 was 4 million 718 thousand, 13 thousand more than a year earlier. For men, the number of employed persons was essentially unchanged at 2 million 488 thousand, while for women it rose by 15 thousand to 2 million 230 thousand.
The domestic primary labour market employed 4 million 550 thousand people, 17 thousand more than a year earlier. The number of people working abroad was essentially unchanged at 105 thousand, while the number of public workers decreased by 8 thousand to 63 thousand.
The employment rate for 15-64 year olds was 74.6%, the same as a year earlier. The rate remained virtually unchanged for both sexes, at 78.4% for men and 70.8% for women.
Unemployment, November 2023 – January 2024
In the period November 2023-January 2024, the number unemployed persons aged 15-74 increased year-on-year by 30 thousand to 226 thousand persons, while the unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 4.6%.
For males, the number of unemployed was 122 thousand and their unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 4.7%. For females, the number of unemployed was 104 thousand and their unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to 4.5%.
The average time spent looking for a job was 9.3 months, 43% of all unemployed had been looking for a job for less than 3 months and 33% for at least a year.
According to the administrative data of the National Employment Service (https://nfsz.munka.hu/), the number of registered jobseekers at the end of January 2024 decreased by 4.4% to 233 thousand compared to a year earlier.