Again more people in paid employment in April

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© Hollandse Hoogte / Fotografie René Bouwman
From February to April, the number of people in work aged 15 to 74 years grew further by 38 thousand per month on average, to 9.5 million in April. Unemployment fell over the same period by an average of 13 thousand per month. In April, there were 316 thousand unemployed, i.e. 3.2 percent of the labour force. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of new labour force figures. The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) registered 175 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits as of the end of April.

In April, 3.7 million people aged 15 to 74 years did not have paid work for a variety of reasons. In addition to the unemployed, 3.3 million people were not looking and/or immediately available for work recently; they are not counted towards the labour force. Their number has dropped by an average 20 thousand per month over the past three months, to the lowest level since June 2009. This mainly concerns people who are retired or unable to work due to illness or disability.

Unemployment rate declined further in April

In order to enable comparison of cyclical developments in the labour market across countries, the unemployment indicator of the International Labour Organization (ILO) is used as a measure. According to this indicator, the unemployed are those who are not in paid work but have been looking recently and are immediately available. This figure refers to the population aged 15 to 74 years. Between February and July 2020, i.e. during the initial phase of the coronavirus crisis, the unemployment rate in the Netherlands rose from 4.0 to 5.5 percent. This was followed by almost continuous decline, to 3.2 percent of the labour force in April this year. It is the lowest rate in the series with monthly figures as of 2003.

Unemployment and unemployment (WW) benefits
   Unemployment indicator (ILO)
(15 to 74 yrs, seasonally adjusted) (x 1,000)
WW benefits (15 yrs to pension entitlement age) (x 1,000)
2012January595292
2012February586299
2012March593296
2012April618292
2012May609291
2012June609291
2012July623298
2012August620304
2012September634304
2012October644310
2012November655322
2012December676340
2013January692369
2013February707377
2013March728380
2013April734380
2013May747378
2013June766382
2013July782395
2013August783399
2013September783400
2013October782408
2013November772419
2013December779438
2014January786460
2014February800460
2014March794454
2014April787443
2014May775436
2014June757431
2014July746437
2014August738430
2014September733420
2014October738419
2014November742425
2014December753441
2015January760458
2015February747455
2015March745443
2015April743427
2015May732416
2015June725410
2015July708420
2015August708420
2015September712417
2015October722421
2015November703427
2015December695446
2016January680465
2016February688469
2016March680470
2016April679461
2016May668448
2016June656438
2016July648432
2016August628427
2016September617424
2016October609420
2016November607410
2016December590412
2017January588419
2017February582416
2017March571415
2017April563401
2017May564386
2017June555372
2017July544364
2017August534362
2017September529351
2017October511343
2017November504337
2017December503330
2018January487335
2018February474330
2018March465327
2018April463314
2018May460301
2018June463288
2018July458279
2018August463278
2018September451274
2018October444269
2018November433267
2018December437263
2019January437279
2019February419274
2019March416268
2019April409257
2019May411251
2019June423243
2019July424234
2019August432237
2019September432233
2019October432233
2019November434228
2019December409223
2020January390241
2020February383240
2020March388250
2020April427292
2020May439301
2020June513301
2020July532301
2020August533292
2020September519278
2020October509278
2020November485276
2020December476286
2021January448289
2021February450286
2021March439282
2021April427266
2021May419250
2021June405238
2021July393224
2021August406213
2021September399208
2021October382199
2021November359189
2021December369192
2022January354193
2022February336188
2022March327184
2022April316175

UWV: fewer WW benefits in April

The number of current unemployment (WW) benefits has decreased further. At the end of April 2022, the UWV paid 175 thousand WW benefits. This is 9.2 thousand fewer than in the previous month (-5.0 percent). Compared to April last year, the number of benefits was 34.4 percent lower. In April 2022, 24.9 thousand WW benefits were terminated and 15.7 thousand new benefits were granted.

UWV: fewer WW benefits across all sectors

In April, the number of current WW benefits declined across all sectors compared to the previous month. By far the largest decrease was seen in accommodation, food and catering services (-13.5 percent). The number of WW benefits also declined considerably in culture (-7.2 percent), temporary employment (-6.7 percent) and agriculture (-6.5 percent).

Over-45s in particular not active on the labour market

Of the 3.3 million people not included in the labour force, the majority were aged 45 to 74. Since the start of the series with monthly figures in 2003, their number has fluctuated between 2.5 million and 2.7 million. At slightly over 2.5 million, it has never been so low as in the past month. The most frequently cited reason for these over-45s not to work is retirement or old age, followed by illness or disability. The main reason for young people not to work is being enrolled in education or training. Among 25 to 44-year-olds, it is often because of illness or disability, or care for the family.

Inactive labour force by reason not to work, Q1 2022
 Not available and not looking due to care for the family/household responsibilities (x 1,000)Not available and not looking due to education/training (x 1,000)Not available and not looking due to pension/old age (x 1,000)Not available and not looking due to illness/disability (x 1,000)Not available and not looking due to other reasons (x 1,000)Semi-unemployed (not looking, available; looking, not available) (x 1,000)
15 to 24 yrs32870257107
25 to 44 yrs995711932874
45 to 74 yrs17812159757346121

Unemployment declined over past three months

The continued unemployment decline over the past three months is related to underlying flows between the active, unemployed and inactive labour force. This is visualised in the diagram below.

 

In April, 316 thousand people were unemployed. This number stood at 354 thousand three months previously, in December. This means that unemployment declined by 38 thousand over this period (13 thousand per month on average). As shown in the above diagram, unemployment can decline because unemployed people find a job or because they withdraw from the labour market. Conversely, there can be an inflow into unemployment from the active labour force and from the inactive labour force.

In the past three months, there were more unemployed who found a job than employed who lost their job, as a result of which unemployment fell by 60 thousand on balance. The decline was mitigated by the fact that more people started seeking work without immediate result (from inactive labour force to unemployed) than stopped seeking and/or became unavailable (from unemployed to inactive labour force). On balance, there was an inflow of 22 thousand unemployed from the inactive labour force.

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.