Unemployment jumps up by 12,000

The number of unemployed in the Netherlands rose by 12 thousand in December and amounted to 642 thousand people, Netherlands Statistics announced today. The unemployment rate rose in December after remaining virtually unchanged in the previous three months. In December unemployed people accounted for 8.1 percent of the workforce. Figures from UWV shows that the number of unemployment benefits increased in December by 16 thousand to 441 thousand. The number of benefits at the end of 2014 was slightly higher than at the end of 2013. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate came out on 642 thousand people in December. That is 26 thousand less than at the beginning of 2014. In the first few months of last year, the unemployment rate increased quickly, but there was a sharp decline from May to August. During autumn the unemployment rate remained stable at 8.0 percent of the workforce. According to the definition of the International Labor Organisation (ILO), unemployment in the Netherlands amounted to 6.7 percent of the workforce. This figure was 6.5 percent in November. This means that unemployment in the Netherlands is relatively low on international terms. The unemployment rate in the euro zone was 11.5 percent in November and 10.0 percent in the European Union as a whole.