Unemployment rate up

In September, 3.6 million people aged 15 to 74 did not have paid work for various reasons. Aside from the unemployed, 3.2 million people were not looking and/or immediately available for work; they are not counted towards the labour force. They are mainly retirees and people unable to work due to illness or disability. The number of people outside the labour force has remained the same over the past three months.

UWV: slightly fewer WW benefits

At the end of September, UWV provided 155.1 thousand current WW benefits. This is 1.3 thousand fewer than in the previous month (-0.8 percent). In September, 17.8 thousand new WW benefits were granted while 19.0 thousand benefits were terminated.

Relative to one year previously, the number of current WW benefits increased slightly, by 3.1 thousand (2.0 percent).

Unemployment up, highest rate among young people

The unemployment rate increased to 3.7 percent in September. It was still 3.5 percent in June. Youth unemployment rose in particular during this period, from 8.3 to 8.8 percent. This means there is a continued trend of rising unemployment especially among young people (15-24 years) who were still working relatively recently. Over 80 percent of unemployed young people are pupils or students.

The unemployment rate was considerably lower among older age groups, but has also increased slightly since June: from 2.8 to 2.9 percent among 25 to 44-year-olds and from 2.1 to 2.2 percent among 45 to 74-year-olds. The current trend in unemployment corresponds with the deteriorated economic climate in recent months. See also: Economic outlook deteriorates further in September.

More job losses

In September, the number of unemployed was up by 18 thousand on three months previously (adding on average 6 thousand per month). This increase is the result of underlying flows between the employed, unemployed and non-labour force. This is visualised in the diagram below. The chart below the diagram shows the development of these different flows over the past few months.

There are two different flows that can lead to lower unemployment. The first flow is when unemployed people find a job; the second flow is when unemployed people stop seeking work and leave the labour market.

There are also two opposite flows, which can increase unemployment. These occur when employed people lose their jobs and when people who were not active on the labour market start seeking work. If they do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labour force. The increase in unemployment over the past three months is mainly due to a higher number of job losses.

Every month, CBS publishes figures on the labour force in accordance with guidelines of the International Labour Organization (ILO). 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.