Hungary’s rolling average three-month jobless rate, among those aged between 15 and 74, reached 4.4 percent in December-February, down from 6.1 percent in the same period a year earlier, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) has revealed.
In absolute terms, there were 202,500 unemployed in Hungary in December-February, 73,000 fewer than in the same period a year earlier.
What's more, the unemployment rate among young job seekers fell to 11.1 percent from around 30 percent in 2010, Péter Cseresnyés, the state secretary responsible for employment and training, said.
Commenting on the KSH data, Cseresnyés said that Hungary’s workforce capacity had been growing apace for nearly four years, with the private sector, which employed 144,000 more this year, driving the upswing. The number of employees of the public sector fell by 14,000, which also points to a vigorous primary labor market, he said.
According to MTI, the government aims to use the fostered work program as a transitory stage and decrease the number of fostered employees by 40,000 to 50,000 within a few years. Job seekers should ultimately find employment in the private sector, Cseresnyés said.