Unemployment in NL still higher than before financial crisis

Despite steadily decreasing since 2014, unemployment in the Netherlands is still higher than it was before the financial crisis hit in 2008, Statistics Netherlands reported on Tuesday. Unemployment among men between the ages of 25 and 45 years is currently more than three times as high as it was at the start of the crisis.

3.2 percent of the Netherlands' male population between the ages of 25 and 45 years are currently unemployed - they are looking for work and available to start immediately. While this is much lower than the unemployment peak in 2014, the percentage is still more than three times as high as the 0.9 percent of men who were unemployed when the crisis started. Among men over the age of 45, unemployment increased from 2.5 percent to 3.7 percent. In the youngest age group, 15 to 24, unemployment among men decreased from 8.7 percent to 8.3 percent.

Like before the crisis, a higher percentage of women are unemployed than men, but the difference between 2017 and 2008 is smaller, according to the stats office. Among women, unemployment increased in all age groups between 2008 and 2017. Last year 3.8 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 45 were unemployed, compared to 3.5 percent in 2008. For over 45 year olds, unemployment increased from 3.4 percent in 2008 to 4.4 percent in 2017. And in the youngest age group, from 7.4 percent to 8.6 percent.

The percent of men between the ages of 25 and 45 years who are not active on the labor market also increased, from 4.7 percent to over 8.3 percent. The same is true for men between the ages of 15 to 25 years, increasing from 27.6 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to 31.4 percent in the third quarter of 2017. The percentage of over 45 year olds - both men and women - who are not active in the labor market decreased over this period. The proportion of women aged 15 to 24 who are not active on the labor market also decreased, from 29.4 percent in 2008 to 28.8 percent in 2017.