Hungary’s unemployment rate jumped to 4.6% from November to January, up from 4% in the same period the previous year.
The increase means that the number of people out of work aged 15-74 has gone up by 30,000 to 226,000, according to new figures released by Hungary’s central statistics office on Friday.
The office said that of the total number of unemployed people in Hungary, 121,500 were men, with their unemployment rate rising to 4.7%.
Some 104,300 women were also out of work, with their rate up to 4.5%.
The statistics mark a steady but consistent rise in unemployment since mid-2022, as Hungary, like the rest of Europe, dealt with the fallout from economic crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The number of people in work meanwhile has increased by 13,000, bringing Hungary’s grand employment total to 4.7 million.
The domestic primary labour market employed 4.6 million people, according to official figures, 17,000 more than a year earlier.
The number of people working abroad was essentially unchanged at 105,000, while the number of public workers decreased by 8,000 to 63,000.
The central statistical office also highlighted that the average time spent looking for a job was 9.3 months and that 43% of the unemployed had been looking for a job for at least a year.
