Job growth continues in the second quarter

In the second quarter of 2006 there were 83 thousand more jobs of employees than in the second quarter of 2005. This means an increase of 1.1 percent. It signifies a further recovery of employment. In the first quarter the number of jobs increased by 78 thousand. The Netherlands counted more than 7.5 million jobs in the second quarter of 2006.

Adjusted for seasonal effects, the number of jobs increased for the fifth quarter in a row. In the second quarter the growth rate for jobs was 0.3 percent up on the preceding quarter.

By far the greatest increase in the number of jobs took place in business services. Care remains one of the main job generators. There was also an increase in jobs in trade, hotels and restaurants. Jobs are still disappearing in the manufacturing industry, construction, in transport and in government.

The wages and salaries per year (fte) were 1.1 percent higher in the second quarter of 2006 than in the second quarter of 2005. The lower contributions employers paid for (pre)pension and disablement means that the real increase in labour costs was limited to 0.6 percent per year (fte).  From a historic perspective, the rise in labour costs in the second quarter of 2006 is low.

Growth rate jobs and economic growth