Modest employment growth
- More jobs in the sectors trade, hotels and restaurants, care and business services
- Fewer jobs in public administration
- Marginal wage increase
In the second quarter of this year, the number of employee jobs was 51 thousand (0.6 percent) up on the same period in 2010. After correction for seasonal variation, the number of jobs increased by 25 thousand relative to the first quarter of 2011, as the latest figures released by Statistics Netherlands show.
Employment improved in the sectors trade, transport, hotels and restaurants, care and business services. Employment declined in the sectors manufacturing industry, construction, financial services and public administration. In public administration, 12 thousand jobs were lost in comparison to one year previously.
Wages per working year were 1.2 percent higher in the second quarter of 2011 than in the same quarter last year. The modest increase is just above the collectively negotiated wage increase of 1.0 percent. The most substantial wage increase (3.1 percent) was recorded in the sector financial services.
With 1.4 percent, wage costs rose somewhat faster than wages. Employers’ contributions into unemployment and health care insurance schemes were not entirely offset by the lower employers’ contribution into the disability scheme.