Number of employed continues to rise

More recent figures are available on this topic. View the latest figures here.
© Hollandse Hoogte / Robin Utrecht
Between August and October 2018, the number of people aged 15 to 74 in paid employment grew by an average of 20 thousand per month. Total employment stood at more than 8.8 million in October. Unemployment declined by an average of 4 thousand per month to 337 thousand. This group of people were not in paid employment and indicated they had recently looked and were immediately available for work. Unemployment declined sharply in relative terms among the over-45s. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of new figures.

More than 4.1 million people did not have paid work for a variety of reasons. In addition to the unemployed mentioned earlier, there were nearly 3.8 million people who had not looked or/nor been immediately available for work recently. They are not included in the labour force. Their number dropped by an average 12 thousand per month between August and October. At the end of October, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 269 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

Unemployment indicator

In order to enable comparison of cyclical developments in the labour market between countries, the unemployment indicator of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is often taken as a measure. According to this indicator, the ‘unemployed’ includes all 15 to 74-year-olds who do not have paid work but who have been looking for paid work recently and who are immediately available. There were 337 thousand unemployed in October, equivalent to 3.7 percent of the labour force. This is the same percentage as in September, but slightly below the average in the third quarter (3.8 percent). The lowest level at the outbreak of the economic crisis, 3.6 percent in the last few months of 2008, has not yet been reached.

Unemployment (ILO indicator, seasonally adjusted) and unemployment benefits
   Unemployment indicator (ILO)
(15 to 74 yrs, seasonally adjusted) (x 1,000)
Unemployment benefits (15 yrs to pension entitlement age) (x 1,000)
2011January430284
2011February425280
2011March413270
2011April411261
2011May414256
2011June409252
2011July425254
2011August427256
2011September442252
2011October458253
2011November474258
2011December473270
2012January486292
2012February482299
2012March487296
2012April502292
2012May501291
2012June502291
2012July518298
2012August517304
2012September530304
2012October539310
2012November554322
2012December572340
2013January589369
2013February601377
2013March619380
2013April625380
2013May632378
2013June648382
2013July666395
2013August670399
2013September675400
2013October680408
2013November677419
2013December687438
2014January691460
2014February699460
2014March692454
2014April684443
2014May672436
2014June656431
2014July648437
2014August637430
2014September630420
2014October632419
2014November635425
2014December643441
2015January645458
2015February633455
2015March626443
2015April625427
2015May617416
2015June611410
2015July603420
2015August604420
2015September609417
2015October616421
2015November596427
2015December588446
2016January574465
2016February581469
2016March574470
2016April572461
2016May560448
2016June550438
2016July541432
2016August521427
2016September510424
2016October502420
2016November499410
2016December482412
2017January480419
2017February473416
2017March463415
2017April456401
2017May456386
2017June446372
2017July436364
2017August426362
2017September422351
2017October404343
2017November397337
2017December395330
2018January380335
2018February367330
2018March357327
2018April355314
2018May352301
2018June354288
2018July348279
2018August353278
2018September343274
2018October337269

UWV: Number of unemployment benefits drops to 269 thousand

At the end of October, the UWV recorded 269 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits. This was down by 4.5 thousand on the previous month, equivalent to a decrease of 1.7 percent. Year-on-year, the number of unemployment benefits fell by 74 thousand (-21.6 percent). Since the latest peak of 470 thousand benefits at the end of March 2016, it has shown an almost continuous decline. A person may receive more than one unemployment benefit. At the end of October 2018, there were 261 thousand recipients of one or more unemployment benefits.

UWV: Both inflow and outflow are down

From January up to and including October 2018, UWV provided 277 thousand new unemployment benefits, i.e. 15 percent down on the same period last year. At the same time, UWV terminated 338 thousand current unemployment benefits in this period. This is 14.4 percent less than one year previously.

Strongest decline in unemployment among the over-45s

Over the previous three months, the sharpest drop in unemployment was seen among 45 to 74-year-olds: starting in July, the unemployment rate in this group fell from 3.7 to 3.3 percent. Unemployment was still rising over the summer among the youngest age group, but October (7.2 percent) was slightly below the level of July (7.3 percent) again. Among the 25 to 44-year-old group, it remained 2.6 percent.

Unemployment rate
   15 to 24 yrs (%)25 to 44 yrs (%)45 to 74 yrs (%)
2011January10.53.74.2
2011February9.93.74.2
2011March9.43.64.3
2011April9.33.64.2
2011May9.23.64.3
2011June9.53.64.1
2011July9.93.74.2
2011August9.83.94.1
2011September10.244.1
2011October10.34.34.3
2011November10.74.44.4
2011December10.84.34.3
2012January11.24.54.4
2012February11.74.24.4
2012March11.64.44.4
2012April11.64.64.6
2012May11.34.64.6
2012June11.54.74.5
2012July11.554.6
2012August11.64.84.6
2012September12.14.94.7
2012October12.154.8
2012November125.25
2012December12.35.45.2
2013January12.55.75.3
2013February12.55.85.5
2013March12.665.7
2013April12.76.15.8
2013May12.66.25.9
2013June136.36
2013July13.66.56.1
2013August13.56.66.2
2013September13.96.66.2
2013October13.86.66.3
2013November13.86.56.3
2013December13.76.76.5
2014January13.56.86.6
2014February13.86.96.6
2014March13.66.86.7
2014April13.26.76.8
2014May136.56.7
2014June12.86.36.6
2014July12.86.16.6
2014August12.466.5
2014September125.96.5
2014October1266.5
2014November11.966.5
2014December11.866.7
2015January11.76.16.7
2015February116.16.7
2015March10.85.96.7
2015April10.95.96.6
2015May11.15.76.5
2015June11.15.56.6
2015July11.35.46.4
2015August11.25.46.4
2015September11.55.46.5
2015October11.65.46.6
2015November11.25.26.5
2015December11.25.16.4
2016January11.24.96.2
2016February11.356.2
2016March11.44.96.1
2016April11.24.86.1
2016May11.14.66
2016June10.84.75.9
2016July10.84.75.6
2016August10.64.55.3
2016September10.54.55.1
2016October10.54.35.1
2016November10.34.35.1
2016December10.24.14.9
2017January9.84.14.8
2017February9.744.9
2017March9.63.84.8
2017April9.53.74.7
2017May93.94.8
2017June8.93.74.7
2017July8.83.84.4
2017August8.93.74.1
2017September8.53.74.2
2017October7.93.54.1
2017November7.83.53.9
2017December83.34
2018January7.43.23.9
2018February7.233.8
2018March72.93.8
2018April6.92.93.7
2018May6.92.83.7
2018June7.22.73.8
2018July7.32.63.7
2018August7.72.63.6
2018September7.52.63.5
2018October7.22.63.3

Unused labour potential

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the size of the employed labour force and the non-employed population. The latter group comprises the unemployed labour force as well as people not included in the labour force (all these groups follow the ILO definition). However, the unemployed labour force does not represent all unused labour potential. According to the ILO indicator, this includes other groups of people aside from the unemployed. These people have either looked for work recently or are immediately available for work. They are counted towards unused labour potential but fall outside the scope of the ILO definition of employment. People who work part-time but want to work more hours and are immediately available are also included in the unused labour potential.

These groups are only reported on every quarter in terms of size and composition. The overall picture provided in the table below is based on the latest quarterly figures (Q3 2018). The total unused labour potential in Q3 2018 comprised nearly 1.1 million people. This was almost 1.3 million one year previously. Development of the total unused labour potential closely follows developments in unemployment according to the ILO definition.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the labour force in accordance with international guidelines. The corresponding indicators, i.e. the employed and unemployed labour force, are used around the world to describe cyclical developments on the labour market. Monthly figures are essential in this respect. In addition, UWV issues its own monthly figures on unemployment benefits. Figures released by UWV do not correspond one-to-one with the labour force indicators.