Economic situation unchanged

The CBS Business Cycle Tracer is a tool used to monitor the situation and the developments in the Dutch economy. It uses thirteen key macro-economic indicators. Together, these provide a coherent macro-economic picture which is based on CBS figures published over the past month or quarter. It does not represent the situation at the level of individual households, businesses or regions.

Consumers and producers less confident

The mood among Dutch consumers deteriorated again in September compared to the previous month. Producer confidence hardly changed. However, the confidence indicators remain well above their long-term average.

Household consumption, investments and exports growing

The total volume of goods exports grew by 3.2 percent in August relative to August 2017. Relative growth was slightly higher than in July. In August 2018, exports of transport equipment, machinery and appliances increased most notably.

The volume of investments in tangible fixed assets was 6.2 percent up in July 2018 relative to the same month last year. Year-on-year growth was less substantial than in the preceding month. In July 2018, investments in dwellings and buildings as well as in cars, lorries and machinery were up in particular. Investments in aircraft, on the other hand, were considerably lower.

Dutch household consumption was 2.6 percent up in July 2018 over July 2017. The growth rate was the same as in the previous month. In July 2018, consumers mainly spent more on food, beverages and tobacco.

Manufacturing over 3 percent up in August

The average daily output generated by the Dutch manufacturing industry was 3.1 percent up in August compared to the same month last year. The growth rate was higher than in July. For three years now, manufacturing output has continually been above the level of the same period year-on-year. The strongest growth in August 2018 was seen in the transport equipment industry.

Lowest level bankruptcies of this century

The number of corporate bankruptcies has decreased. There were 33 fewer bankruptcies in September 2018 than in the previous month. This constitutes the lowest number of bankruptcies since 2001. However, the trend has been fairly flat for over a year.

Number of jobs continues to grow

In Q2 2018, the number of full-time and part-time jobs held by employees and self-employed rose by 52 thousand relative to the previous quarter. It is the seventh consecutive quarter with job growth exceeding 50 thousand, although the growth pace has slowed down somewhat. The number of jobs has been growing almost continuously for over four years now, by over 675 thousand (7 percent) in total.

The total number of hours worked by employees and self-employed reached 3.4 billion in Q2 2018. When adjusted for seasonal effects, this is 0.6 percent more than in Q1.

The number of job vacancies grew by 16 thousand in Q2 2018. As a result, 251 thousand job vacancies were available at the end of the quarter. Growth has continued for five years now and has currently reached its highest level after Q4 2007, namely 249 thousand. The number of vacancies reached its record low (91 thousand vacancies) in mid-2013.

In August 353 thousand people indicated they had recently looked and were immediately available for work. These are the unemployed according to the definition of the International Labour Organization (ILO). On average, their number remained more or less stable between June and August. The unemployment rate in the Dutch labour force stood at 3.9 in August. This rate has been virtually at the same level for six months.

GDP growth 0.8 percent in Q2 2018

Gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.8 percent in Q2 relative to the previous quarter, according to the second estimate of GDP conducted by CBS. Growth is mainly due to exports. Investments in fixed assets and household consumption also grew.

GDP grew by 3.1 percent relative to Q2 2017.

On Wednesday 14 November 2018, CBS will publish the first estimate of GDP and employment in Q3 2018.