Published on: 4 January 2018

Unemployment rate decreased to 3.8%

In the period of September–November 2017, the average number of unemployed people was 178 thousand, 30 thousand fewer than a year earlier, and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage point to 3.8%. The unemployment rate was lower for men than for women and the rate of improvement was also higher among them.

In September–November 2017, compared to a year before:

Among 15–74 year-old men, the number of the unemployed decreased by 23 thousand to 87 thousand, and their unemployment rate by 1.0 percentage point to 3.4%. Regarding women, the change was smaller, the number of the unemployed declined by 7 thousand to 91 thousand, and their unemployment rate by 0.3 percentage point to 4.3%.

The unemployment rate of the 15–24 age group decreased by 1.3 percentage points to 10.4%, and one-fifth of the unemployed belonged to this age group in this period. The unemployment rate of those aged 25–54, i.e. persons belonging to the ‘best working age’ decreased by 0.5 percentage point to 3.4%, and the rate for persons aged 55–64 fell by 0.8 percentage point to 2.9%.

The average duration of unemployment was 16.3 months; 42.5% 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 2017, 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 5.7% to 258 thousand.

Unemployment among 15–74* year-olds by age groups, September–November 2017

Age group, year-old Number Unemployment rate
thousand persons change, thousand personsa) % change, percentage pointa)
15–2435.8–5.710.4–1.3
25–54120.9–17.53.4–0.5
55–7420.9–6.82.8–0.9
Total177.5–30.03.8–0.7

* 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.