Unemployment remains stable

In the period May-July 2005 there were on average 499 thousand people unemployed. The seasonally corrected figure was 493 thousand, the same as in April-June 2005. Seasonally corrected unemployment has been constant for about six months.

According to the latest figures by Statistics Netherlands 6.7 percent of the labour force was unemployed in the past three months. A year earlier this was 6.5 percent.

Slight fluctuations in 2005

In the period May-July unemployment is always somewhat higher since students come onto the job market looking for regular and summer jobs. The seasonally corrected figure for the unemployed labour force was 493 thousand. Seasonally corrected unemployment in 2005 fluctuates between 490 and 498 thousand people. Earlier this year a few thousand people were added to the unemployed figures, now a thousand are subtracted from them.

Job market less positive for women

Male and female employment are developing differently. The number of unemployed women increased by 15 thousand over the last twelve months whereas the number of unemployed men was fairly constant. One of the causes is the slow-down in the growth rate of employment in care and education. In recent years many women found work in these sectors. Currently there are about as many women as men unemployed in absolute terms.

Unemployment among men was 5.9 percent in the period May-July 2005. A year earlier this was 5.8 percent. Unemployment among women increased from 7.4 to 7.8 percent.

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