According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 3.4 percent of the working population was on the sidelines in June. A month earlier, it was 3.3 percent. In April, at 3.2 percent, it was the lowest percentage since the start of the monthly measurements in 2003.
In June, 3.7 million people aged 15 to 75 were unemployed. In addition to the unemployed, there were 3.3 million people who had not recently sought and/or are not immediately available for work. They are not counted as part of the working population. This mainly concerns people who are retired or who are unable to work due to illness or incapacity for work. In the last three months, this non-working population has declined by an average of 7,000 per month to its lowest number since June 2009.
Newcomers
Despite the slight rise in unemployment in the past three months, nearly 300,000 more people were employed in June this year than in June 2021. This means that there are also more newcomers to the workplace. Compared to other EU countries, the number of starters in the Netherlands was relatively high, according to Statistics Netherlands.
Unemployment among young people has increased. In April, youth unemployment was still 6.9 percent, in June it rose to 7.5 percent. Unemployment rose from 2.5 to 2.8 percent among 25 to 45-year-olds. Unemployment rose relatively least among 45 to 75-year-olds, from 2.3 to 2.4 percent.
The number of unemployment benefits fell in June by 4,000 to 160,700 compared to May. That represented a decrease of 2.5 percent. Compared to a year ago, the number of unemployment benefits has fallen by almost 33 percent. The number of unemployment benefits fell most sharply in the catering, construction, agriculture and cultural sectors. The season played an important role in this.