Unemployment rises for the fifth consecutive month

Unemployment in the Netherlands increased for the fifth month in a row in September, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Thursday. A total of 371,000 Netherlands residents were unemployed in September, 3.7 percent of the working population.

Unemployment increased by an average of 6,000 people per month in July, August, and September. According to CBS, the increase is linked to the economic situation - the Dutch economy slipped into a recession, consumers are spending less, and bankruptcies are increasing.

Unemployment particularly increased among young workers. In June, 8.3 percent of young people aged 15 to 25 were unemployed. In September, that climbed to 8.8 percent. Unemployment was significantly lower among older age groups but also increased slightly since June - from 2.8 to 2.9 percent among 25 to 45-year-olds and from 2.1 to 2.2 percent among 45 to 75-year-olds.

At the end of September, the benefits agency UWV paid out 155,100 active unemployment benefits - 1,300 less than a month earlier (-0.8 percent) but 3,100 more than in September 2022 (+2.0 percent). In September 2023, 17,800 new unemployment benefits started, and 19,000 were terminated.

In September, the Netherlands also counted 3.2 million working-aged people who weren’t working but didn’t count as unemployed because they weren’t actively looking or available for work. “It mainly concerns people who are retired or cannot work due to illness or disability,” CBS said. They’re not counted as part of the working population. The size of this group has remained stable over the past three months.