Published on: 27 March 2024

4 million 723 thousand people in employment, unemployment rate at 4.6%

In February 2024, the average number of employed persons aged 15–74 increased by 32 thousand from the same period of the previous year, to 4 million 723 thousand. The number of unemployed persons was 227 thousand and the unemployment rate was 4.6%.1

Employment, December 2023–February 2024

Created with Highcharts 6.1.2Thousand personsNumber of employed persons(within population aged 15-74 years, 3-month moving average)01-03201902-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202002-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202102-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202202-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202302-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0204 5004 5504 6004 6504 7004 7504 800

In the period December 2023–February 2024, the average number of employed persons aged 15-74 was 4 million 721 thousand, 31 thousand more than a year earlier. For men, the number of employed persons was essentially unchanged at 2 million 490 thousand, while for women it rose by 27 thousand to 2 million 232 thousand.

The domestic primary labour market employed 4 million 550 thousand people, 30 thousand more than a year earlier. The number of people working abroad and public workers was essentially unchanged, the former at 106 thousand, the latter at 65 thousand persons.

The employment rate for 15-64 year olds was 74.6%, the same as a year earlier. The rate remained virtually unchanged for men at 78.5%, while for women it increased by 0.8 percentage points to 70.8%.

Unemployment, December 2023–February 2024

Created with Highcharts 6.1.2%Unemployment rate by sex(within population aged 15-74 years, 3-month moving average)TotalMalesFemales01-03201902-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202002-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202102-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202202-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0201-03202302-0403-0504-0605-0706-0807-0908-1009-1110-1211-0112-0203.03.54.04.55.05.5

In the period December 2023–February 2024, the number of unemployed persons aged 15-74 increased year-on-year by 33 thousand to 232 thousand persons, while the unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 4.7%.

For males, the number of unemployed was 124 thousand and their unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 4.7%. For females, the number of unemployed was 108 thousand and their unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 4.6%.

The average time spent looking for a job was 9.1 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 February 2024 decreased by 4.0% to 235 thousand compared to a year earlier.

Created with Highcharts 6.1.2thousand personsEconomic activity of the population aged 15-74, December 2023 - February 2024(change compared to the same period last year)PopulationOf which:EmployedUnemployedInactive-90-80-70-60-50-40-30-20-100102030405060708090