Smaller job growth in Greater Amsterdam

The number of new jobs grew more slowly across all provinces in the Netherlands in 2001. The provinces Limburg and North Holland had lower than average growth. For the latter province this was caused by the stagnating job growth in the Greater Amsterdam area.

Rate of growth slowing down

Together, employees in the Netherlands had just over seven million jobs in 2001. Total job growth was 2.1 percent last year, down from 2.9 percent in 2000. This was the labour market’s reaction to the slump in the economy.

Slower growth in all provinces

The number of jobs increased across all twelve provinces in 2001, but more slowly than in 2000. The highest growth rate was in Flevoland, where the number of jobs rose by 5 percent. There was a remarkable difference between the economically important provinces of South Holland and North Holland. In South Holland job growth was higher than average, while in North Holland it was lower than average.

Large Corop areas: many jobs in commercial services

The regions with the most jobs are Greater Amsterdam, Utrecht, Greater Rijnmond (including Rotterdam), and the The Hague agglomeration. In the first three Corop areas more than half of jobs are in commercial services, mostly trade and business services. The Hague differs from these three in that it has many jobs in non-commercial services, especially public administration.

Slowdown in job growth in Greater Amsterdam

The low growth in the number of jobs in North Holland last year was mainly caused by the fall in the Greater Amsterdam area. The number of jobs in commercial services in this region rose by only two thousand, compared with an increase of nineteen thousand in 2000. This was slightly compensated by a growth of eight thousand jobs in non-commercial services. More than half of these jobs were in healthcare and welfare. Overall, the number of jobs in Greater Amsterdam rose by nineteen thousand in 2001, down from an increase of 25 thousand in 2000.

Growth mainly in health care and welfare

The number of jobs in Utrecht rose by nearly thirteen thousand in 2001. One third of these jobs were in health care and welfare, and education, a quarter were in business services. Greater Rijnmond counted twelve thousand new jobs, with again nearly one third in health care and welfare. In the The Hague Agglomeration there was a net increase of eight thousand jobs.

Gerda Gringhuis and Michiel Heerschop