Unemployment slightly up in May

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© CBS
In May 2022, unemployment stood at 323 thousand. This is 3.3 percent of the labour force and slightly higher than in April 2022, when it was 3.2 percent. From March through May, unemployment was still down by an average of 4 thousand per month. More people started seeking work in May. Over this three-month period, the number of employed people aged 15 to 74 grew by 40 thousand per month on average to 9.6 million. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of new labour force figures. At the end of May, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) issued 165 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits.

In May, 3.7 million people aged 15 to 74 did not have paid work for a variety of reasons. Aside from the unemployed, 3.3 million people were not looking and/or immediately available for work recently; they are not counted towards the labour force. These people are not counted towards the labour force. This mainly concerns people who are retired or unable to work due to illness or disability. Their number has dropped by an average 23 thousand per month over the past three months, to the lowest level since June 2009.

Unemployment rate slightly higher in May

In order to enable comparison of cyclical developments in the labour market across countries, the unemployment indicator of the International Labour Organization (ILO) is used as a measure. According to this indicator, the unemployed are those who are not in paid work but have been looking recently and are immediately available. This figure refers to the population aged 15 to 74 years. Between February and July 2020, i.e. during the initial phase of the coronavirus crisis, the unemployment rate in the Netherlands rose from 4.0 to 5.5 percent. This was followed by almost continuous decline, to 3.2 percent of the labour force in April this year. It was the lowest rate in the series with monthly figures as of 2003. In May, unemployment increased slightly to 3.3 percent.

Unemployment and unemployment (WW) benefits
   Unemployment indicator (ILO)
(15 to 74 yrs, seasonally adjusted) (x 1,000)
WW benefits (15 yrs to pension entitlement age) (x 1,000)
2012January595292
2012February586299
2012March593296
2012April618292
2012May609291
2012June609291
2012July623298
2012August620304
2012September634304
2012October644310
2012November655322
2012December676340
2013January692369
2013February707377
2013March728380
2013April734380
2013May747378
2013June766382
2013July782395
2013August783399
2013September783400
2013October782408
2013November772419
2013December779438
2014January786460
2014February800460
2014March794454
2014April787443
2014May775436
2014June757431
2014July746437
2014August738430
2014September733420
2014October738419
2014November742425
2014December753441
2015January760458
2015February747455
2015March745443
2015April743427
2015May732416
2015June725410
2015July708420
2015August708420
2015September712417
2015October722421
2015November703427
2015December695446
2016January680465
2016February688469
2016March680470
2016April679461
2016May668448
2016June656438
2016July648432
2016August628427
2016September617424
2016October609420
2016November607410
2016December590412
2017January588419
2017February582416
2017March571415
2017April563401
2017May564386
2017June555372
2017July544364
2017August534362
2017September529351
2017October511343
2017November504337
2017December503330
2018January487335
2018February474330
2018March465327
2018April463314
2018May460301
2018June463288
2018July458279
2018August463278
2018September451274
2018October444269
2018November433267
2018December437263
2019January437279
2019February419274
2019March416268
2019April409257
2019May411251
2019June423243
2019July424234
2019August432237
2019September432233
2019October432233
2019November434228
2019December409223
2020January390241
2020February383240
2020March388250
2020April427292
2020May439301
2020June513301
2020July532301
2020August533292
2020September519278
2020October509278
2020November485276
2020December476286
2021January448289
2021February450286
2021March439282
2021April427266
2021May419250
2021June405238
2021July393224
2021August406213
2021September399208
2021October382199
2021November359189
2021December369192
2022January354193
2022February336188
2022March327184
2022April316175
2022May323

UWV: continuing decline in May

At the end of May, UWV issued 165 thousand current unemployment (WW) benefits, i.e. a decrease of more than 10 thousand (-5.8 percent) relative to April 2022. Year on year, i.e. relative to May 2021, the decrease amounted to nearly 85 thousand (-34.0 percent). For the fourth consecutive month, the number of terminated benefits exceeded the number of new benefits. In May 2022, 15.3 thousand new WW benefits were granted while 25.4 thousand benefits were terminated.

UWV: decline in all age groups

The number of WW benefits fell in all age groups: by 8.0 percent among young people under the age of 25, by 6.1 percent among 25 to 54-year-olds and by 5.5 percent among 55 to 64-year-olds. UWV also granted nearly 11 thousand benefits to over-65s. This age category saw the smallest decrease in the past month (-1.5 percent).

More people seeking work

The slight unemployment increase in May was mainly related to a higher inflow from the inactive labour force. Compared to previous months, more people in the inactive labour force started working or looking for work. As a result, both the number of employed and the number of unemployed increased. The unemployment rate still shows a downward trend when measured over a longer (three-month) period. Employment continued its growth of the past two years. For the past twelve months, employment has seen a particularly sharp rise among young people.

Unemployment decline over the past three months

The continuing unemployment decline over the past three months is related to underlying flows between the active, unemployed and inactive labour force. This is visualised in the diagram below.

In May, unemployment stood at 323 thousand in May against 336 thousand unemployed three months previously, in February. This represents a decline of 13 thousand (4 thousand per month on average). As shown in the above diagram, unemployment declines when unemployed people find a job or withdraw from the labour market. On the other hand, there is an inflow into unemployment of people in employment and from the inactive labour force.

In the period March-May, more unemployed found a job than employed people lost their job, reducing unemployment by 59 thousand on balance. The three-month decline was limited as more people started seeking work without immediate result (i.e. from inactive labour force to unemployed) than stopped seeking and/or became unavailable (from unemployed to inactive labour force). On balance, there was an inflow of 46 thousand unemployed from the inactive labour force.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the Dutch 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 are not comparable one-to-one with the labour force indicators.