Unemployment up in November, particularly among young people

In addition to the 408 thousand people who were unemployed, 3.2 million people were not actively seeking work or not immediately available for work in November. 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 an average of 7 thousand per month.

UWV: unemployment benefits down by 0.7 percent in November

At of the end of November 2025, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 194.1 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits, 1.3 thousand fewer (-0.7 percent) than in October. In November, 22.9 thousand new people were granted unemployment benefit and 24.1 benefits were terminated.

Relative to one year previously, the number of recipients of unemployment benefit rose by 17.5 thousand (+9.9 percent). The most significant increase was seen among people aged over 55 (+11.6 percent), followed by young people under the age of 25 (+11.3 percent).

Unemployment among young people rose to 9.1 percent
9.1 percent of people aged 15 to 24 years who are part of the labour force, were unemployed. This is the highest percentage seen in over four years. Over the past four years, the unemployment rate has fluctuated between 6.9 and 9.0 percent. While unemployment among young people has risen over the past three months, the labour force participation rate fell to 75.2 percent. In August, labour participation among young people was 76.4 percent.

Fewer people found work than became unemployed

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 (147 thousand in November). The second is when an unemployed person stops seeking work and leaves the labour market (95 thousand in November). A total of 242 thousand people who had been unemployed three months earlier found a job in November.

There are also two opposite flows, which can increase unemployment. The first happens when an employed person loses their job (118 thousand in November) and the second when a person who was previously unavailable for work decides to seek employment (131 thousand in November). 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 in November was 249 thousand.