Unemployment stood at 408 thousand in September

These are the most recent figures on this topic. View the previous figures here.
© ANP / Peter Hilz

A total of 408 thousand people were unemployed in September 2026. Unemployment has increased by an average of 5 thousand per month over the past three months. The number of people in paid employment remained unchanged over the same period. The unemployment rate stood at 4.0 percent in September, the same as in August. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of newly released figures. At the end of September, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) records included 197 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

In addition to the 408 thousand people unemployed, 3.2 million people were not actively seeking work or not immediately available for work in September. These people are not counted as part of the labour force. Many of them are retirees or are unable to work due to illness or occupational disability. Averaged over the past three months, the number of people who are not part of the labour force has fallen by an average of 2 thousand per month. The number of people outside the labour force has remained around 3.2 million since the start of 2023. The number of people employed has been hovering around 9.8 million for almost three years. For more information on the differences between the sources, see the technical notes.

UWV: increase in number of recipients of unemployment benefit

The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 197.1 thousand recipients of unemployment (WW) benefit at the end of September. That was a month-on-month increase of 1.2 percent. A total of 24.6 thousand new people were granted unemployment benefit and 22.2 thousand benefits were terminated.

More people remained unemployed

Unemployment can increase or decrease due to four different changes in people’s circumstances. There are also two groups of people moving in the opposite direction, which can contribute to higher unemployment. The first group is made up of employed people who lose their job (124 thousand in September) and the second group is made up of people who were previously unavailable for work and decide to seek work (123 thousand in September). If people in these groups do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labour force. In September there were 247 thousand people unemployed who had been in work three months earlier, due to these factors.

There are also two groups of people moving in the opposite direction, which can contribute to lower unemployment. The first is when an unemployed person finds a job (140 thousand in September). The second is when an unemployed person stops seeking work and leaves the labour market (92 thousand in September). A total of 232 thousand people were no longer unemployed in September, who had been unemployed three months earlier. From the start of this year, the number of people in both categories rose to 262 thousand in April, after which it declined.

The number of unemployed people has risen by an average of 5 thousand per month over the past three months, because more people became unemployed than found work.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the labour force in accordance with guidelines of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The indicators described (employed labour force and unemployed labour force) are used around the world to describe cyclical developments on the labour market. In addition, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) publishes its own monthly figures on the number of unemployment benefits recorded. The figures released by UWV do not correspond precisely with the labour force indicators.

Sources

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