Dutch labor market recovery moves forward with 102,000 new jobs

Benefits agency UWV expects that the Dutch labor market will continue to recover in 2016, with 102 thousand extra jobs created this year. If the self-employment jobs are included, the growth in jobs is even higher at 129 thousand. In 2015 a total of 56 thousand jobs were created, according to a report the benefits agency released on Friday, NU reports. As in 2015, the employment growth will be mainly driven by the freelance sector. The number of jobs are also expected to increase in construction and childcare. Jobs in health care, financial services, industry and government are expected to decrease. The improving economy will also create more vacancies. The UWV expects around 89 thousand vacancies in 2016, 49 thousand more than in 2014 and a third more than the low point in 2013. The recovering labor market also means that the UWV has to spend less on unemployment benefits. Last year the total expenses on benefits decreased with half a million euros to 20.9 billion euros. The expectation is that this will decrease by another 250 thousand this year.