Hungary's September unemployment rate was 4.6 percent

According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office's first estimate published on 22 October, 4 million 661 thousand people aged 15–74 were employed in Hungary in September, while unemployment stood at 224 thousand and the unemployment rate at 4.6 percent. The monthly figures are model estimates; the more detailed July–September average showed 4 million 669 thousand employed people and a 4.7 percent unemployment rate.

The KSH release says the three-month employment total did not change materially over one year. Hungary's primary labour market employed 4 million 482 thousand people, 22 thousand fewer than in the same period a year earlier; KSH said that change remained within the sampling margin of error. Public employment accounted for 69 thousand people, while 118 thousand worked abroad.

The employment rate among people aged 15–64 was 75.6 percent. It was 79.2 percent for men and 72.0 percent for women. The three-month unemployment rate was 4.5 percent for men and 4.9 percent for women; the female rate increased over one year. Average job-search duration was 11.6 months, and 32.5 percent of unemployed people had been looking for work for at least a year.

Using a separate data source, the National Employment Service recorded 223 thousand registered jobseekers at the end of September, 1.1 percent more than a year earlier. The two statistics use different concepts and methods, so their figures are not directly interchangeable. The next monthly release will show whether the stability of the main indicators persists. Our related coverage of the 2027 deficit plan and euro-area industrial production provides a broader economic frame.