The latest figures from Hungary's Central Statistical Office (KSH) indicate that the employment situation in Hungary was stable in June, with 4.768 million people employed, yet the unemployment rate experienced a minor uptick, reaching 4.2%.

In June this year, the average number of employed individuals aged 15–74 remained largely the same as last year. In Q2, the average number of employed persons in Hungary was 4.745 million, reflecting an increase of 21,000 compared to the same period last year.

When analysing the employment data by gender, the number of employed men saw a slight decline (within the margin of sampling error) to 2.501 million. In contrast, the number of employed women increased by 27,000, reaching a total of 2.244 million.

In addition, the domestic primary labour market experienced a rise in employment, with 4.579 million people working, an increase of 29,000 compared to the previous year. 

Employment overseas also saw a minor increase to 106,000, though this change is within the margin of sampling error. That said, the number of public sector workers declined by 12,000, totalling 60,000, Budapest Business Journal reports.

Furthermore, among individuals aged 15-64, the employment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 75.1%. The rate for men remained steady at 79%, while the rate for women increased by 0.7 percentage points to 71.2%.

Also in the second quarter, the number of unemployed individuals aged 15-74 increased by 23,000 from the previous year, reaching a total of 215,000. As a result, the unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 4.3%.

Whereas for men, the number of unemployed increased to 114,000, leading to an unemployment rate of 4.4%, which is up by 0.4 percentage points. For women, the unemployed total reached 101,000, with their unemployment rate rising by 0.5 percentage points to 4.3%.

The data also revealed that the average duration of job searches was 10 months. Of the unemployed individuals, 35% were searching for a job for less than three months, while 36% had been seeking employment for at least a year.