Hungary' unemployment rate increased to a near one-year higher in the three months to February, but stayed slightly below economists' forecast. However, the jobless rate was unchanged from a year earlier, latest data showed Thursday.
The unemployment rate for the December-February period was 11.6 percent, higher than 11.2 percent recorded in the preceding three-month period, the Central Statistical Office said. The latest figure was the highest since March 2012. Economists were looking for a figure of 11.7 percent.
The unemployment rate among youth, aged between 15 and 24, increased to 29.2 during the three month period from 28.4 percent in the three months to January, data showed.
As many as 45.6 percent of the unemployed population had been searching for a job for one year or more, the agency said.
The number of unemployed persons in the country rose to 501,900 in February from 486,400 in the previous period, but stayed broadly unchanged from a year earlier, data showed.
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