Unemployment remained at 3.8 percent in July

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© Hollandse Hoogte / Peter Hilz
Unemployment stood at 388 thousand in July 2025. This is 3.8 percent of the labour force, meaning that the unemployment rate was the same as in the previous three months. The number of unemployed people also remained almost unchanged over the past three months, on average. 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. At the end of July, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) records included 188 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

In addition to the 388 thousand people who were unemployed, 3.2 million people were not actively seeking work or not immediately available for work in July. 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 unemployment benefits increased slightly in July

At the end of July 2025, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 187.7 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits, up by 4.1 thousand compared with the previous month. In July, 28.8 thousand new unemployment benefits were issued and 24.7 thousand benefits were terminated.

UWV: increases across many sectors

The number of WW benefits rose in 16 sectors. The largest increases were seen in education (+14.3 percent), health and social care (+2.8 percent), chemical industry (+2.8 percent), other industry (+2.7 percent), banking and insurance (+2.6 percent).

Minor changes in total number of unemployed people

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 is when an unemployed person finds a job. The second is when an unemployed person stops seeking work and leaves the labour market. In July 2025, 234 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 around the same as the number of unemployed people who found work or exited into the nonworking population (239 thousand). Both the number of people becoming unemployed and the number of people ceasing to be unemployed remained virtually constant 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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