Unemployment down further

Dutch unemployment continues to fall. The seasonally corrected unemployment figure in the period June-August was 400 thousand. This is 5 thousand less than in May-June of 2006. Unemployment hasn’t been this low since the summer of 2003.

In the first eight months of 2005, the seasonally corrected unemployment figure still hovered around 490 thousand. Since then, unemployment has fallen steadily. In the period June-August 2006, the number of unemployed people was down by 88 thousand on the year before. Within one year, unemployment went from 6.5 to 5.3 percent of the labour force.

Over the past twelve months, unemployment diminished among people aged 25-44. This is the largest group on the labour market. Unemployment also fell among young people, the smallest group on the labour market. There number of unemployed people over 45 was the same as the year before.

Unemployment, seasonally adjusted