Hungary's unemployment rate is at a record low after the number of people in employment rose by 152,000 year-on-year, in the last quarter, Mihály Varga, minister for National Economy, has said.
The minister noted that the number of people working abroad or as a public work employee has declined alongside job growth. Since the change of government in 2010, the number of people in employment has increased by more than 700,000, with the bulk of job growth, 486,000, recorded within the private sector.
In the last quarter of 2016, the number of jobless people fell to 205,000, therefore the unemployment rate has hit 4.4 percent, a new low point of a 54-month downward trend. This figure places Hungary as third on the EU ranking of countries with the lowest unemployment rates, behind only the Czech Republic and Germany.
The government-initiated six-year wage deal, which stipulates higher minimum wages and guaranteed minimum wages and lowers payroll taxes, stimulates work productivity at enterprises and boosts the number of jobs producing higher value added, Mihály Varga stressed.