Hungary’s unemployment rate rose to 4.9% in the December–February 2026 period, up from 4.6% a year earlier. This was the highest level since April–June 2016, reflecting an increase of 11.9 thousand in the number of unemployed people, to a total of 235.7 thousand.
Among the unemployed, 125 thousand were men, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 4.8%, while 111 thousand were women, with a rate of 4.9%.
The average job search duration was 11.9 months. Of all unemployed persons, 37.2% had been looking for work for less than three months, 28.2% for four to eleven months, and 34.6% for more than a year.
At the same time, the number of employed persons declined by 5.5 thousand, to 4.623 million. Male employment fell by 34 thousand, to 2.453 million, while female employment decreased by 32 thousand, to 2.169 million.
