Unemployment rose further in March

These are the most recent figures on this topic. View the previous figures here.
© ANP / Peter Hilz
Unemployment stood at 395 thousand in March 2025. The number of people unemployed increased by a monthly average of 7 thousand over the past three months. As a result, the unemployment rate amounted to 3.9 percent in March. This was 3.8 percent in February. The number of people in paid employment has also risen slightly, by an average of 1 thousand per month over the past three months. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures. The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 190 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits at the end of March.

In addition to the 395 thousand people who were unemployed, 3.2 million people were not actively seeking work or not immediately available for work. Many of these are retirees and people who are unable to work due to illness or occupational disability. These people are not counted as part of the labour force. Averaged over the past three months, the number of people outside the labour force has fallen by 5 thousand per month.

UWV: number of recipients of unemployment benefit remained stable in March

At the end of March, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 189.5 thousand people receiving unemployment (WW) benefit, down by nearly one hundred compared with February. As a result, the number remained stable. In March, 21.4 thousand new unemployment benefits were issued and 21.5 benefits were terminated.

UWV: small differences between sectors

The number of current unemployment benefits increased in half the number of sectors. The largest increases were seen in the public sector (up by 2.8 percent), cleaning services (up by 2.4 percent) and the manufacturing sector (up by 2.1 percent). There were also sectors in which the number decreased, such as agriculture (down by 4.8 percent), temporary employment agencies (down by 2.5 percent) and education (down by 2.2 percent).

More people seeking work

Trends in unemployment are the result of underlying movements between those in employment, the unemployed and those who are not part of the labour force. This is visualised in the chart below. The graph below the chart shows the changes in these different flows over the past few years.


Unemployment can increase or decrease due to four different changes in people’s circumstances. Two of these can lead to lower unemployment. The first change occurs when an unemployed person finds a job. The second change occurs when an unemployed person stops seeking work and leaves the labour market. In March, there were 224 thousand people who had been unemployed three months earlier.

There are also two changes that can lead to higher unemployment. The first happens when an employed person loses their job and the second when a person who was previously unavailable for work decides to seek employment. If people in these groups do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labour force. The total number of people who became unemployed was higher in March at 246 thousand than the number of unemployed who found work or exited into the nonworking population (224 thousand). As a result, the number of unemployed persons rose, by an average of 7 thousand per month over the past three months.

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 publishes its own monthly figures on unemployment benefit. The figures released by UWV do not correspond directly with the labour force indicators.

Sources

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