More women find work as unemployment improves

The increase in employment between March and May is almost entirely due to a rising number of women in the workforce, reports Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The number of working men remained stable during the period. The size of the labor force remained almost constant during the time, so the increase in the number of working women also resulted in a drop in unemployment. The unemployment rate fell from 7.1 to 6.9 percent in the corresponding period. The number of employed women grew by 87 thousand in the last year. Currently, 60.5 percent of women have a job.The increase in the number of working women is especially visible among those aged 45 and above. At the same time the number of working men stopped rising in the last half year. Although the number of unemployment benefits to women declined in May, the level is still slightly higher than a year ago. Among men, there is a clear downward trend with an almost four-percent decline in May.