Full employment is once again within reach in Hungary
Recent data from the KSH show positive trends in the labour market. In the second quarter of 2024, the number of people in employment increased compared to both the previous months and last year. The average number of employed persons (15-74 year olds) was 4.745 million, 21,000 more than a year earlier.
The domestic primary labour market employed 4.579 million in April-June, 29,000 more than a year earlier. The number of people working abroad increased to 106,000, while the number of those in public works dropped to 60,000.
Unemployment still shows an increase on an annual basis, but has already fallen compared to the preceding months. This means that, as we predicted earlier, we are now past the peak of the unemployment rate and the downward trend has started as the economy recovers.
In Q2, the number of unemployed persons aged 15-74 increased year-on-year by 23,000 to 215,000, while the unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 4.3%. However, the latter figure marks a considerable drop from 4.7% in early 2024.
The average time spent looking for a job was 10 months, 35% of all unemployed had been looking for a job for less than three months and 36% for at least a year.
In the coming months, unemployment could fall further and employment could rise as the economic recovery continues, so full employment could be reached. Labour shortages are again a problem in a growing number of sectors and are likely to become an even bigger headache for companies in the coming months.
Cover photo (illustration): Getty Images
