Employment continues to rise

The remainder of the group not in employment (over 3.8 million) had not looked or/nor been immediately available for work recently. Their number dropped by an average 2 thousand per month over the previous three months. At the end of April, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 314 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

355 thousand unemployed according to ILO definition

In order to enable comparison of cyclical developments in the labour market between countries, the unemployment indicator of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is often taken as a measure. According to this indicator, the ‘unemployed’ includes all 15 to 74-year-olds who do not have paid work but who have been looking for paid work recently and who are immediately available. There were 355 thousand unemployed in April, equivalent to 3.9 percent of the labour force. This is the same percentage as in the previous month. The number of unemployed has been falling almost continuously for four years. In April 2018, there were 562 thousand more people in work than in March 2014, when the number of people in work reached its lowest point.

At the end of April, UWV provided 314 thousand current WW benefits. This represents a decline of almost 13 thousand benefits relative to March (-3.9 percent) and a decline of over 87 thousand year-on-year (-21.7 percent). The year-on-year decline was strongest in technical and transport occupations (-30 percent).
In the first four months of 2018, UWV provided 123 thousand new unemployment benefits, a decrease of 17.0 percent compared to one year previously. Relative to the first four months of 2017, the number of employment benefits declined in all occupational classes.

Fewer people not in work

The unemployment rate does not include all people who are not in paid employment. Over 4.2 million 15 to 74-year-olds are not in work, which is considerably less than in March 2014, when the number peaked at over 4.5 million. The percentage of people not in work therefore declined. The rate stood at 35.6 percent over four years ago, versus 32.5 percent last month. This is still above the pre-crisis level of slightly under 32 percent.

Unused labour potential

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the size of the employed labour force and the non-employed population. The latter group comprises the unemployed labour force as well as people not included in the labour force (all these groups follow ILO definitions). However, the unemployed labour force does not represent all unused labour potential. According to the ILO indicator, this includes other groups of people aside from the unemployed. These people have either looked for work recently or are immediately available for work. They are counted towards unused labour potential but fall outside the scope of the ILO definition of employment. People who work part-time but want to work more hours and are immediately available are also included in the unused labour potential.

These groups are only reported on every quarter in terms of size and composition. The overall picture provided in the table below is based on the latest quarterly figures (Q1 2018). The total unused labour potential in Q1 2018 comprised more than 1.2 million people. This was over 1.4 million one year previously. Development of the total unused labour potential closely follows developments in unemployment according to the ILO definition.