Unemployment rate 3.8 percent in June

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© ANP / Hans van Rhoon
Unemployment stood at 386 thousand in June 2025. This is 3.8 percent of the labour force, meaning that the unemployment rate was the same as in the previous two months. The number of unemployed people fell by an average of 3 thousand per month over the past three months. The number of people in paid employment rose by an average of 5 thousand per month in the same period. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures. The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 184 thousand people receiving unemployment benefit (WW) at the end of June.

In addition to the 386 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 6 thousand per month.



UWV: the number of recipients of unemployment benefit fell by 3 thousand in June

At the end of June 2025, UWV recorded 183.6 thousand recipients of unemployment benefit, down by 3 thousand from the previous month (-1.6 percent). In June, 19.1 thousand new people were granted unemployment benefit and 22.1 thousand benefits were terminated.

UWV: largest decrease in the number of WW benefits among people aged under 25

The number of recipients of unemployment benefit fell in all age groups except among those aged 65 or older. The sharpest decline was seen among young people aged under 25 (-3.7 percent) and those aged 25 to 34 (-2.7 percent). The decline among people aged 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 was 1.4 percent, and was smallest among those aged 55 to 64 (-1.0 percent). The number of recipients of unemployment benefit rose slightly among people aged 65 and over (+0.2 percent).

More people found work than became unemployed

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 June 2025, 239 thousand people who had been unemployed three months previously, found employment.

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 slightly lower in June at 230 thousand than the number of unemployed who found work or exited into the nonworking population (239 thousand). As a result, the number of unemployed persons fell slightly by an average of 3 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.

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