Slight increase in the number of vacancies

The third quarter of 2004 saw a slight increase in the number of vacancies, according to the latest figures by Statistics Netherlands. On 30 September 2004 there were 125 thousand unfilled vacancies. This is the seasonally corrected figure. Compared to the second quarter this is an increase of 3 thousand.

The number of vacancies continues to rise

On 31 December 2000 there were 213 thousand unfilled vacancies. This is the seasonally corrected figure. After this, the number of vacancies steadily dropped until there were only 92 thousand vacancies in the third quarter of 2003. Since then, the number of vacancies has increased for four quarters in a row. The increase averaged 8 thousand vacancies per quarter. The increase in the third quarter of 2004 is below this average.

Drop in non-commercial services

The number of vacancies increased in all branches of industry except non-commercial services. At the end of the third quarter of 2004 there were 32 thousand unfilled vacancies, 2 thousand less than in the previous quarter. These are the seasonally corrected figures.

Job market more dynamic

The job market became increasingly dynamic for the second quarter in a row. This is shown by the increasing number of new vacancies and vacancies filled. These figures are not seasonally corrected yet. In the third quarter of 2004 there were 168 thousand new vacancies, up 27 thousand on the year before. The number of vacancies filled was up by 10 thousand.

Higher vacancy rate

The vacancy rate is the number of unfilled vacancies per thousand jobs. This is an indicator of how tight the job market is. On 30 September 2004 there were 16 vacancies per one thousand jobs, 4 more than the year before. The increase took place in almost all branches of industry. Government, however, had a slightly lower vacancy rate than the year before.

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