Unemployment falls to 3.5 percent, despite uptick in benefits recipients

Unemployment in the Netherlands decreased to 3.5 percent in November, with 357,000 people unemployed, Statistics Netherlands reported on Thursday. Over the previous three months, the unemployed population decreased by an average of 2,000 per month, while 15,000 people found paid work each month.

In November 2023, the benefits agency UWV issued 160,200 unemployment benefits, a 2.9 percent increase from October. During this period, 22,800 benefits were terminated, while 27,300 new ones were initiated.

Since the start of the year, the unemployment rates for those aged 25 to 44 and 45 to 74 have remained relatively stable. However, the 15 to 25 age group saw fluctuations. Their unemployment rate was 7.5 percent in December last year, rose to 8.8 percent by September this year, and then decreased to 8.2 percent in November.

Currently, over 40 percent of the unemployed are under 25, and there is a notably high concentration of unemployed young people in and around student cities.

In November, the Netherlands also had 3.6 million working-aged individuals who were not working and did not count as unemployed because they were not actively looking or available for work, often due to retirement, illness, or disability, according to CBS. The size of this group has grown by 5,000 per month over the past three months.