Number of employed continues to rise

More than 4.1 million people did not have paid work for a variety of reasons. In addition to the unemployed mentioned earlier, there were nearly 3.8 million people who had not looked or/nor been immediately available for work recently. They are not included in the labour force. Their number dropped by an average 12 thousand per month between August and October. At the end of October, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 269 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

Unemployment indicator

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 337 thousand unemployed in October, equivalent to 3.7 percent of the labour force. This is the same percentage as in September, but slightly below the average in the third quarter (3.8 percent). The lowest level at the outbreak of the economic crisis, 3.6 percent in the last few months of 2008, has not yet been reached.

UWV: Number of unemployment benefits drops to 269 thousand

At the end of October, the UWV recorded 269 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits. This was down by 4.5 thousand on the previous month, equivalent to a decrease of 1.7 percent. Year-on-year, the number of unemployment benefits fell by 74 thousand (-21.6 percent). Since the latest peak of 470 thousand benefits at the end of March 2016, it has shown an almost continuous decline. A person may receive more than one unemployment benefit. At the end of October 2018, there were 261 thousand recipients of one or more unemployment benefits.

UWV: Both inflow and outflow are down

From January up to and including October 2018, UWV provided 277 thousand new unemployment benefits, i.e. 15 percent down on the same period last year. At the same time, UWV terminated 338 thousand current unemployment benefits in this period. This is 14.4 percent less than one year previously.

Strongest decline in unemployment among the over-45s

Over the previous three months, the sharpest drop in unemployment was seen among 45 to 74-year-olds: starting in July, the unemployment rate in this group fell from 3.7 to 3.3 percent. Unemployment was still rising over the summer among the youngest age group, but October (7.2 percent) was slightly below the level of July (7.3 percent) again. Among the 25 to 44-year-old group, it remained 2.6 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 the ILO definition). 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 (Q3 2018). The total unused labour potential in Q3 2018 comprised nearly 1.1 million people. This was almost 1.3 million one year previously. Development of the total unused labour potential closely follows developments in unemployment according to the ILO definition.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the labour force in accordance with international guidelines. The corresponding indicators, i.e. the employed and unemployed labour force, are used around the world to describe cyclical developments on the labour market. Monthly figures are essential in this respect. In addition, UWV issues its own monthly figures on unemployment benefits. Figures released by UWV do not correspond one-to-one with the labour force indicators.