Employment up in July, except youth employment

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© FOTO: FLIP FRANSSEN/ HOLLANDSE HOOGTE
The number of people aged 15 to 74 who were in paid employment grew by an average of 17 thousand per month over the previous three months. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports that total employment reached almost 8.8 million in July, as indicated by the latest figures. Employment grew among over-25s in particular. Youth employment remained virtually unchanged. Nearly 4.2 million people did not have paid work for a variety of reasons; this included 348 thousand people who indicated they had recently looked and had been immediately available for work. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, these constitute the unemployed. Their number fell by an average 2 thousand per month over the previous three months. As a result, the unemployment rate in the Dutch labour force stood at 3.8 percent in July.

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 11 thousand per month over the previous three months. At the end of July, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 279 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

348 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 348 thousand unemployed in July, equivalent to 3.8 percent of the labour force. The unemployment rate is still higher than at the start of the economic crisis in the second half of 2008, when the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent.

UWV: Number of unemployment benefits down by nearly 9 thousand

At the end of July, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 279 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits. The number fell by nearly 9 thousand (-3.0 percent) on the previous month. Relative to one year previously (July 2017), this represents a decrease of 23.3 percent or over 85 thousand unemployment benefits. A year-on-year decline in the number of unemployment benefits was seen in all occupational groups. The strongest decline was seen in technical occupations (-31.5 percent) as well as in transport and logistics (-30.5 percent). A benefit recipient may have more than one unemployment (WW) benefit. At the end of July, 270 thousand people were receiving one or more unemployment (WW) benefits.

UWV: Strong decline in new benefits compared to 2017

In the first seven months of 2018, UWV provided 198 thousand new unemployment benefits. This is 17.8 percent less than in the same period in 2017. In the period from January to July 2018 inclusive, a total of 248 thousand WW benefits were terminated, i.e. 13.8 percent fewer than in the same period last year.

Over-25s in particular finding new jobs

The rise in employment is entirely on account of the group of 25 to 74-year-olds. Over the past three months, the number of employed over-25s has grown by an average of 18 thousand per month. For the group of 45 to 74-year-olds, this upward trend started at the beginning of 2014. In the other group, the 25 to 44-year-olds, the trend started only at the beginning of this year, and mainly among women. This is also the age category with the strongest decline in unemployment for the past three months. In July, 2.6 percent of the labour force aged between 25 and 45 years were unemployed. This was still 2.9 percent three months previously. Among young people (under-25s), employment remained more or less the same in the first half of this year, while the unemployment rate even increased slightly, from 6.9 to 7.3 percent.

Unused labour potential

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the total employed and non-employed population. The latter group comprises the unemployed labour force and people not included in the labour force. The unemployed labour force does not include the total unused labour potential; other groups are included aside from the unemployed according to the ILO indicator. These are people who have either looked for work recently or are immediately available for work. They are counted towards the 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 reported on every quarter in terms of size and composition. The overall picture represented here (see figure below) is based on the latest quarterly figures (April to June 2018), which were published earlier this week. The total unused labour potential in Q2 2018 comprised more than 1.1 million people. This was almost 1.4 million one year previously. Development of the total unused labour potential closely follows developments in unemployment according to the ILO definition.

 

 

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