Sándor Czomba: The number of registered job seekers has decreased by 6 thousand people – a new program helps job seekers find employment

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 02. 04. 10:15

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According to data from the National Employment Service, the number of registered job seekers was 224,130 in January 2026, which is a decrease of more than 6 thousand compared to the same period of the previous year and about 430 thousand compared to 2010. Thus, Hungary remains among the leaders of the European Union in terms of high employment and low unemployment – Sándor Czomba, State Secretary for Employment Policy at the Ministry of National Economy (NGM), drew attention in his statement on Wednesday.

He confirmed that there are 1 million more people working in Hungary compared to 2010, while the average wage has more than tripled and the minimum wage has quadrupled. In addition, real wages have been increasing continuously for two years, so more and more money is left in families’ pockets.

The government is contributing to this with wage increases (for example, an 11 percent minimum wage increase, sectoral wage increases), tax cuts (exemption from personal income tax for mothers with two and three children, doubling of the family tax credit) and action against price increases (extension and expansion of the wage gap reduction).

The government is doing everything it can to ensure that those who want and can work can work. The Youth Guarantee Plus program, which is co-financed by the EU, has so far supported the employment of 28,000 young people with more than 33 billion forints.

A separate program – also co-financed by the EU – helps people over 30 find jobs, within the framework of which the government has contributed a total of 41 billion forints to the entry of more than 32,000 job seekers into the labor market, the State Secretary recalled.

He highlighted that since February 1, domestic SMEs have been able to apply for the “SME Capacity Expansion Support 3.0” program, with which they can receive nearly 2.5 million forints of support for each new employee hired. The program provides non-refundable support from a total budget of 4 billion forints.