Unemployment up in June

More recent figures are available on this topic. View the latest figures here.
Office of the UWV.
© Hollandse Hoogte / Peter Hilz
In June 2022, unemployment stood at 339 thousand. This is 3.4 percent of the labour force. From April through June, unemployment rose by an average of 4 thousand per month. Over this three-month period, the number of employed people aged 15 to 74 grew by 18 thousand per month on average, despite a slight decrease in June. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of new labour force figures. At the end of June, Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) records included 161 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

In June, 3.7 million people aged 15 to 74 did not have paid work for a variety of reasons. Aside from the unemployed, 3.3 million people were not looking and/or immediately available for work recently; they are not counted towards the labour force. This mainly concerns people who are retired or unable to work due to illness or disability. Their number has dropped by an average 7 thousand per month over the past three months, to the lowest level since June 2009.

Unemployment rate higher in June

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. In April 2022, unemployment stood at 3.2 percent, the lowest rate in the series with monthly figures as of 2003. It subsequently rose slightly, to 3.4 percent in June.

Unemployment and unemployment (WW) benefits
   Unemployment indicator (ILO) (15 to 75 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
2022May323165
2022June339161

More unemployment among young people

Unemployment among young people in the labour force stood at 6.9 percent in April, and rose to 7.5 percent in June. Among 25 to 44-year-olds in the labour force, the rate increased from 2.5 to 2.8 percent. Unemployment growth was relatively the lowest among 45 to 74-year-olds: from 2.3 to 2.4 percent.

Despite the (slight) increase over the past three months, nearly 300 thousand more people were employed in June this year than in June 2021. This also means that there are more newcomers in the workplace. In comparison with other EU countries, the number of new employees in the Netherlands was relatively high.

UWV: again fewer unemployment benefits in June

Between the end of May and the end of June 2022, the number of current unemployment (WW) benefits decreased further by 4 thousand to 160.7 thousand (-2.5 percent). One year previously, 238.3 thousand benefits were granted. This means that the number fell by nearly 78 thousand (-32.6 percent) over a 12-month period.

UWV: largest decline in accommodation and food services, construction, agriculture and culture

In accommodation and food services, the number of WW benefits in accommodation and food services continued to decrease relative to May (-12.1 percent). Construction (-11.8 percent) and agriculture (-9.0 percent) showed a substantial decline as well. Seasonal effects played a role here. The number of WW benefits was also down in the cultural sector (-7.1 percent) because many events that were cancelled in previous years due to COVID-19 took place this summer. The other sectors saw a drop in benefits as well, with the exception of the public sector, which had a slight increase (+0.8 percent).

The modest unemployment rise over the past three months is the result of underlying flows between the active, unemployed and inactive labour force. This is visualised in the diagram below.

The diagram shows that unemployment may increase not only because people in work lose their job, but also because people enter the labour force who were not previously part of it. As soon as they start seeking work and are available, they also become part of the unemployed.

The inflow from the inactive labour force is usually the most important reason for unemployment growth. This was also the case in the previous months, but from March through May the inflow from the employed labour force increased as well.

The balance of outflow and inflow from the unemployed to the employed labour force (-39 thousand) was lower in this period than earlier in the year. On the other hand, the balance of flows from the inactive labour force to unemployment (50 thousand) was higher between March and May than before. This resulted in 12 thousand more unemployed since March, an average of 4 thousand per month. As a result, unemployment grew from 327 thousand in March to 339 thousand in June.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the Dutch 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 are not comparable one-to-one with the labour force indicators.