Number of job vacancies remains high
The number of job vacancies remains high in the Netherlands. After correction for seasonal effects, 252 thousands jobs were vacant at the end of September this year. This is 12 thousand more than one quarter previously. The increase was mainly caused by the fact that, as from the third quarter of 2008, job vacancies at the Ministry of Defence are taken into account. These amount to 7 thousand vacancies.
The vacancy rate is indicative of the degree of shortage on the labour market. It is defined as the number of vacant jobs per thousand jobs. At the end of the third quarter, 30 out of every thousand jobs were vacant, similar to the rate in September 2007.The highest vacancy rates were recorded in the sectors construction and hotels and restaurants, the lowest rates in education and health care and welfare work.
The labour market remains very dynamic. In the third quarter, there were 263 thousand new vacancies, i.e. 9 thousand fewer than twelve months previously. The number of filled vacancies was 289 thousand, 4 thousand up on the third quarter of 2007.
