Number of unemployed rose slightly

In the past three months, the number of people in paid employment grew by 19 thousand per month on average. As a result, there were 9.8 million people in paid employment in January. In addition, 3.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were not in paid work for various reasons. Aside from the unemployed, 3.2 million people were not seeking and/or immediately available for work recently. These people are not counted as part of the labour force. They mainly include retirees and people unable to work due to sickness or work incapacity. Over the past three months, the number of people outside the labour force fell by 16 thousand a month on average.

UWV: the number of WW benefits rose in January

At the end of January, UWV recorded 167 thousand recipients of WW benefits. That was 6.3 thousand more than in the previous month (+3.9 percent). An increase at the beginning of the year is customary, because many employment contracts expire at the end of a calendar year. There is also less work in sectors such as construction and agriculture during the winter months.

UWV: WW increase in all age groups

The number of unemployed people receiving WW benefit rose in all age groups. The increase was highest among people aged 65 and over (6.0 percent), aged 15 to 24 (5.2 percent) and aged 25 to 34 (4.5 percent). Among those aged 35 to 54 and 55 to 64, the increase amounted to 3.6 and 3.3 percent respectively.

Unemployment only rose among those aged 25 to 44

The unemployment rate of 3.6 percent in January was the same as the previous month and the past three months. Only among those aged 25 to 44 did the unemployment rate increase relative to the previous three months, from 2.9 percent in October 2023 to 3.1 percent in January 2024. Among young people aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate declined over the same period: from 8.4 to 8.2 percent. The lowest rate was recorded among those aged 45 and over, where the share remained unchanged at 2.2.
At the same time, the percentage of people aged 15 to 74 years in paid work increased further. In January, net labour participation rose to 73.4 percent. The labour participation rate has increased almost continuously since the financial crisis in the last decade; in March 2014, the share of employed people was 65.8. In recent years, the number of employed people with large part-time jobs (20 to 35 hours per week) has increased, in particular, among both men and women.

Higher unemployment due to inflow from outside labour force

Unemployment trends are the result of underlying flows between those in employment, the unemployed and those who are not part of the labour force. This is visualised in the diagram below. The chart below the diagram shows the change in these different flows over the past few months.

Unemployment can increase or decrease due to four different flows. Two of these can lead to lower unemployment. The first flow is when unemployed people find a job. The second flow is when unemployed people stop seeking work and leave the labour market.

There are also two flows in the opposite direction, which can lead to higher unemployment. These concern employed people who lose their job as well as people who were previously unavailable on the labour market and who have started to seek employment. If they do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labour force.

In January, there was a slightly greater inflow into unemployment than outflow, due to which the number of unemployed slightly increased. The inflow from outside the labour force went up in particular.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the labour force in accordance with guidelines of the International Labour Organization (ILO). 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.