Marginal recovery job growth

In the third quarter of 2010, the number of jobs of employees was 13 thousand down on the same quarter of 2009. Employment decline is gradually slowing down. The number of jobs fell by only 0.2 percent in the third quarter versus 0.8 percent in the second quarter.

Altogether, there were nearly 7.9 million jobs of employees in the Netherlands in the third quarter of 2010. The number of full-time jobs was lower than one year previously. The number of part-time jobs increased, but not enough to compensate for the loss of full-time jobs. Converted to full-time equivalents, the number of jobs amounted to 5.9 million, a decline by 28 thousand from the third quarter of 2009.

Employment is subject to seasonal variation. After adjusting for seasonal effects, the number of jobs in the third quarter was 0.1 percent higher than in the second quarter. Employment increased marginally for the second quarter in a row.

In the third quarter, wages and salaries per labour year rose by 1.1 percent relative to the third quarter of 2009. The wage increase was the same as the increase in collectively negotiated (CAO) wages. Job promotions and variable payments, like bonuses, commissions and overtime payments had no upward effect. With 1.3 percent, wage costs per labour year, including employer contributions, rose somewhat more rapidly than wages and salaries. This is due to the fact that employers had to pay higher unemployment and health insurance contributions than one year previously.

Growth rate jobs and economic growth

More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle.