Employment further down
In the third quarter of 2012, 82 thousand jobs of employees were lost relative to the third quarter of 2011, i.e. a decline by 1.0 percent. In the first two quarters of 2012, the number of jobs was also down on a one year previously, but the decline was less substantial than in the third quarter.
Growth rate of jobs and economic growth
There were fewer jobs in nearly all sectors compared to one year previously. The most substantial drop was recorded in the construction sector, where 17 thousand jobs were lost. Employment was also considerably down in the sectors business services, public administration, manufacturing industry, financial services and education. Health care was one of the few sectors where the number of jobs increased relative to the third quarter of 2011.
Altogether, there were over 7.8 million employee jobs in the Netherlands. These include both full-time and part-time jobs. Converted to full-time equivalents, there were nearly 5.9 million jobs in the third quarter, a decline by 1.2 percent from the third quarter of 2011.
If seasonal effects are taken into account, the number of jobs in the third quarter was 25 thousand down on the second quarter of 2012.
In the third quarter, wages per working year were 1.1 percent higher than one year previously. The wage increase is too small to compensate for inflation (2.3 percent).
Jobs of employees, seasonally adjusted
More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle.