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Economic Forecast · EU Unemployment · Hungary Economy · Labor Market
In February 2025, the European Union's unemployment rate decreased to 5.7%, a 0.1 percentage point drop from the previous month and 0.4 percentage points lower than February 2024, while Hungary's rate remained stable at 4.3%.
This positive trend for the EU contrasts with Hungary's static rate, which ranked 9th best among Member States. Within the EU, Poland recorded the lowest unemployment at 2.6%, followed by Czechia and Malta at 2.7%, while Spain (10.4%) and Sweden (9.0%) reported the highest rates.
Hungary's number of unemployed stood at 212 thousand in February 2025. A concerning trend for Hungary is the average job search duration, which increased significantly from 9.1 months to 12.6 months year-over-year, and the share of long-term unemployed rose from 33% to 37%.
The National Employment Service reported a 0.9% month-over-month increase in registered jobseekers, though a 1.3% year-over-year decrease to 232 thousand. Forecasts for Hungary's unemployment rate vary: the National Bank of Hungary projects 4.2–4.3% for 2025 and 3.6–4.1% for 2026, while the OECD estimates 4.5% for 2025 and 4.0% for 2026.
Trading Economics forecasts a rise to 4.7% by Q4 2025 before falling to 4.0% by Q1 2026, and the IMF predicts 4.2% for 2025 and 4.1% for 2026.
