Hungary aims to cut unemployment below 3pc by 2018

BUDAPEST: Hungary aims to cut its jobless rate below 3 percent by 2018 through public works schemes and other incentives to boost job creation, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

"By 2018 we should boost the proportion of public employment programmes and take measures that encourage employment so that we can reach full employment," Orban told a business forum.

"This means that the unemployment rate must fall below 3 percent," he said. The next parliamentary election is due in 2018.

Hungary's unemployment rate rose to 7.4 percent in November-January from 7.1 percent in October-December.