Fewer job vacancies

• Number of unfilled job vacancies falls by 9 thousand
• Decrease across nearly all sectors
• New and filled vacancies also down

Figures released by Statistics Netherlands today show that after correction for seasonal effects, there were 109 thousand unfilled job vacancies at the end of June. This is 9 thousand fewer than at the end of the previous quarter.

This is the fourth quarter in succession that the number of job vacancies has decreased. The number of vacancies has not been this low since 2004. The decrease occurred across nearly sectors of the economy. In the care sector, financial institutions, education and agriculture the number of vacancies is stable.

Changes in the number of unfilled vacancies are the result of the number of new vacancies minus the number filled. In the second quarter of 2012, 179 thousand vacancies fell open, 31 thousand fewer than twelve months previously. In the first quarter the decrease in new vacancies was still 28 thousand. The number of vacancies filled was also substantially lower in the second quarter than one year ago. Labour market dynamics thus seem to be decreasing further.