Unemployment almost unchanged

• No further unemployment growth in the past two months
• More job seekers registered at UWV than a month ago
• 270 thousand WW benefits in December

According to the latest figures released by Statistics Netherlands, 456 thousand people in the Netherlands were registered as unemployed (5.8 percent of the labour force) in December last year, as many as in November. The figure is corrected for seasonal variation.
Figures released by the Institute for Implementation of Employees’ Insurances (UWV) show that the number of registered job seekers as well as the number of unemployment (WW) benefits were higher in December than in November.

Average unemployment rate in 2011 the same as in 2010

An average 5.4 percent ot the labour force were unemployed in 2011, the same rate as in 2010, when unemployment dropped throughout the year. The decline did not continue in 2011.
Over the first six months of last year, unemployment hardly changed. Unemployment grew in July, August, September and October, but remained stable in November and December.
With 9.8 percent, the unemployment rate in 2011 among 15 to 25-year-olds was nearly 2 percentage points down on 2010, but the rate among over-25s was marginally higher than in 2010.

As many young job seekers registered at UWV as by the end of 2010

The UWV registered 473 thousand unemployed job seekers in December, an decrease by 17 thousand from one year previously. The number of job seekers under the age of 25 was on the same level as twelve months ago. The number of job seekers registered at the UWV increased by 10 thousand relative to November.

Fewer WW benefits terminated due to work resumption

In December last year, 270 thousand WW benefits were granted, nearly 1 percent fewer than a year ago; 43 thousand new WW benefits were granted, almost as many as in December 2010. The number of WW benefits terminated due to work resumption was lower by the end of 2011 than by the end of 2010. This is partly due to part-time WW, still in force in 2010.