Unemployment rate remains stable at 3.8% of working population

The unemployment rate in the Netherlands remained unchanged compared to the previous month, Statistics Netherlands has reported. Last month, 3.8 percent of the labor force was without paid work, the same as in May and April. On average, the number of unemployed people has been dropping slightly over the last three months, by 3,000 a month.

A total of 386,000 people were unemployed in June. In addition, there were 3.2 million people who had not recently looked for work or were not immediately available for it. These are mainly people who are retired or unable to work due to illness or disability. They are not counted as part of the labor force.

On average over the past three months, the number of people outside the labor force declined by 7,000 per month.

The number of people with paid employment rose by an average of 5,000 a month in the last three months. The benefits agency UWV recorded 183,600 active unemployment benefits in June. That’s 3,000 fewer than the previous month. A total of 19,100 new benefits were issued in June, while 22,100 were terminated.

The decrease in unemployment benefits was visible across almost all age groups. The sharpest decline was seen among people under 25 (down 3.7 percent) and those aged 25 to 35 (down 2.7 percent).

The number of unemployment benefits in the age groups 35 to 45 and 45 to 55 dropped by 1.4 percent. The decrease was smallest amongst 55 to 65-year-olds (down 1 percent). The number of unemployment benefits only increased amongst people over 65 (up 0.2 percent).