KSH noted that wages have been boosted by a higher minimum wage as well as pay increases for social services and healthcare workers and state employees in the cultural sector.

Excluding the 187,600 Hungarians in fostered work programmes in February, the average gross wage rose by 10.5% to 288,797 forints (EUR 921), while net wages also increased by 10.5% to 192,050 forints (EUR 612.6).

The number of employees was up 4.4% overall at 3,086,100 in February and rose by 4% in January-February.

The rise was bigger: 5% and 4.5% respectively if fostered workers were excluded. Analyst Gergely Ürmössy of Erste Bank told MTI he expected gross wages to grow by around 10 % this year after a 6.2% rise in 2016, with real wages rising at 7-8%.

András Horvát of Takarékbank noted a considerable upward risk in wage growth with skilled labour shortages in several professions.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.