Hungary’s unemployment rate has dropped to 4 percent in the August-October period from 4.1 percent in the previous three months, the lowest in almost 30 years, according to figures released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).
Official data shows that the August-October rate had fallen from 4.7 percent in the same period a year earlier. The figures were derived from calculating unemployment among Hungarians between the ages of 15 and 74.
In absolute terms, there were 183,500 unemployed in Hungary in August-October, 5,500 fewer than in July-September and 35,800 fewer than in the same period in 2016.
Péter Cseresnyés, state secretary at the Ministry for National Economy, said 735,000 jobs have been created since 2010, with 560,000 added in the private sector.
Cseresnyés said that over the past seven years, the employment rate has risen from 54.6 percent to 68.7 percent. He added that the Ministry is targeting an employment rate above 70 percent. The current unemployment rate is at the lowest point since Hungary’s regime change in 1989-90, he added.
He said the Ministry expects labor market conditions to remain favorable over the coming period thanks to a six-year agreement signed between the government, unions and employers to increase the minimum wage at the end of 2016.