Economic recovery continuing, Kamp pleased

“The most recent figures about the Dutch economy show that our recovery is progressing well,” Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp said today in reaction to figures published by the Central Bureau for Statistics CBS. CBS said the fourth quarter of 2013 grew by 0.7 percent in comparison to the third quarter. “After a modest growth in previous quarters, the recovery of the Dutch economy is continuing at increased pace,” the Bureau wrote today. It said that the numbers of jobs did drop in the fourth quarter of the year, but at a lesser rate; 8,000 people lost their jobs between October and December 2013, whereas in the quarter before that 41,000 jobs were scrapped. The fourth quarter growth was propelled by an increase in exports, growth of the industrial production and an increase in commercial investments. Still, over the entire year, the economy shrunk by 0.8 percent in comparison to 2012. Exports increased by 1.3 percent, imports dropped by 0.5 percent. Household consumptions were 2.1 percent lower, that of the Government 0.7 percent. There was a 4.9 decrease in investments, and over the entire year there were 138,000 fewer jobs than 2012. CBS said that the Netherlands never before experienced so many job losses and employment opportunities in one year. Nevertheless the fourth quarter growth did sit well with Minister Kamp. “The economy did see growth for a fourth consecutive quarter. That is encouraging. These figures set a positive tune for 2014. The 0.5 growth the Central Planning Bureau predicted are definitely possible,” he said. The Bureau had predicted that 2013 would see the economy shrink by -1 percent, but in the end it was a lot less. Kamp: “It is a positive sign that companies are investing more. We are on a good path,” he said, stressing though: It doesn’t diminish the fact that a record number of people lost their jobs and many companies went bankrupt. We’re not there yet, so the Cabinet is continuing its reformation policies.”