Job growth down substantially

There were 23 thousand more jobs of employees in the first quarter of 2009 than one year previously, an increase by 0.3 percent. The increase is substantially less than in the recent past. In the fourth quarter of 2008, job growth was 1.3 percent relative to one year previously.

Employment was higher in health care and trade. Business service providers, on the other hand, employed considerably fewer people. Employment in the hotels and catering industry, financial institutions, transport, manufacturing and agriculture also decreased. The total number of jobs of employees (full-time and part-time) in the Netherlands amounted to nearly 8 million, corresponding to nearly 6 million full-time jobs.

Employment is subject to marked seasonal variation. After adjusting for seasonal effects, the number of jobs in the first quarter of 2009 was 0.4 percent down on the fourth quarter of 2008.

Wages and salaries of employees per fte were 1.7 percent higher in the first quarter than one year previously. This increase was much smaller than the increase in collectively agreed (CAO) wages of 3.5 percent and also much smaller than the wage increase in the preceding quarters.

With 1.7 percent, the rise in total wage costs per fte, in which employers’ premiums are included, equalled the increase in wages and salaries. Premiums for pension funds increased. On the other hand, premiums for unemployment and health insurance were lowered.

Growth rate jobs and economic growth