Unemployment drops to lowest level since measurement started

Unemployment in the Netherlands fell to 2.7 percent in November. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), this is the lowest monthly figure since the start of this measurement in 2003. Due to the solid economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis, the demand for personnel is very high, resulting in unemployment continuing to fall.

According to CBS, the number of unemployed fell by an average of 17,000 per month in the past three months, reaching 251,000 in November. Over the past three months, the number of working people aged 15 to 75 rose by an average of 33,000 per month to 9.2 million. For the first time, over 70 percent of 15 to 75-year-olds had paid work, the stats office said.

In November, 3.9 million people aged 15 to 75 did not have paid work for various reasons. In addition to the unemployed, there were 3.6 million who had not recently sought work or were not immediately available. They are not counted as part of the working population. Their numbers have fallen by an average of 18,000 per month in the last three months.

The number of active unemployment benefits decreased by 9,900 last month, a decrease of 5 percent compared to October. This brought the number of unemployment benefits to over 189,000 at the end of November. According to benefits agency UWB, there are over 45,000 long-term unemployment benefits.

Labor market expert Rob Witjes of the UWV said in an explanation that the shortage in the labor market remains high and that the tightened coronavirus had no effect on the number of unemployment benefits. "That is good news, but we also see that almost a quarter of people entitled to unemployment benefits have received these benefits for more than a year. This number is decreasing, but not quickly. This shows that it is not easy for everyone to find work."

According to him, the group that has been on unemployment benefits for an extended time also has less good prospects because these unemployed people are often trained for and have experience in jobs that are shrinking, such as in the administrative sector. "Retraining can provide better prospects for this group," said Witjes.