Published on: 23 August 2024

4,765 thousand people in employment, unemployment rate at 4.2%

In July 2024, the average number of employed persons aged 15–74 years increased by 20 thousand compared to the same period of the previous year, to 4,765 thousand. The number of unemployed persons was 209 thousand and the unemployment rate 4.2%.1

Employment, May–July 2024

In the period May–July 2024, the average number of employed persons aged 15–74 years was 4,746 thousand. The total number was unchanged in effect,2 while the number of employed males decreased slightly,2 to 2,501 thousand and that of employed females was up by 29 thousand, to 2,245 thousand.

The domestic primary labour market employed 4,580 thousand people, 26 thousand more than a year earlier. The number of people working abroad increased slightly,2 to 109 thousand, while the number of public workers went down by 12 thousand, to 57 thousand.

Among 15–64-year-olds, the employment rate grew by 0.3 percentage point,2 to 75.1%. The rate decreased slightly,2 to 79.0% for males and rose by 0.8 percentage point, to 71.2% for females.

Unemployment, May–July 2024

Compared to the same period of the previous year, the number of unemployed persons aged 15–74 years increased by 12 thousand, to 210 thousand and the unemployment rate by 0.2 percentage point, to 4.2% in the period May–July 2024.

The number of unemployed males was 109 thousand, and their unemployment rate of 4.2% was practically the same as a year earlier. The number of unemployed females was 101 thousand, and their unemployment rate went up by 0.3 percentage point, to 4.3%.

The average duration of job search was 9.7 months, and 37% of all unemployed people had been looking for a job for less than 3 months and 35% for at least a year.

According to administrative data of the National Employment Service (https://nfsz.munka.hu/), the number of registered job seekers decreased to 224 thousand at the end of July 2024, by 1.4% compared to a year earlier.