Netherlands unemployment still falling, down to 3.3% in May

The unemployment rate in the Netherlands dropped to 3.3% percent in May, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) announced on Thursday. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the unemployment rate reached 4,6 percent last August and it has been declining steadily since then. 

Some 309 thousand people in the Netherlands were unemployed in May. On average over the past three months, the number of unemployed fell by 10 thousand per month. 

A total of 4.1 million people in the Netherlands aged 15 to 75 were not doing paid work in May for a variety of reasons. In addition to the unemployed, there were 3.8 million people who had not recently searched for a job or were not immediately available for work. These groups do not count for the official unemployment rate.

The number of people who claimed unemployment benefits also went down in May, marking a 6.3% decrease compared to the previous month. Across all sectors, the number of claimed unemployment benefits was lower in May than in April. The largest decreases occurred in agriculture, temporary employment, construction and hospitality, CBS stated.