Unemployment slightly up in April

More than 9.8 million people were in paid employment for the first time at the end of last year. The number of employed people hovered at around 9.8 million in the months that followed. In the previous three months, this number fell by an average of 2 thousand per month.

A total of 3.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were not in paid employment for various reasons. In addition to people who were unemployed, 3.2 million people were not seeking and/or immediately available for work recently. These people are not counted as part of the labour force. Many of these are retirees and people who are unable to work due to sickness or work incapacity. Averaged over the past three months, the number of people outside the labour force showed hardly changed.

UWV: number of unemployment benefits fell slightly

At the end of April 2024, UWV recorded 170.3 thousand recipients of unemployment (WW) benefits. That was 4.2 thousand fewer than in the previous month (-2.4 percentage points). In April, 18.4 thousand new unemployment benefits were granted and 20.6 thousand benefits were terminated.

UWV: number of unemployment benefits decreased in almost all sectors

The number of unemployment benefits declined the most in agriculture, forestry and fisheries (-7.4 percentage points), temporary employment agencies (-5.4 percentage points), accommodation and food services, banking and insurance (both -3.3 percentage points) and construction (-3.0 percentage points). For most of the above sectors, this is a seasonal pattern that was also visible in April of previous years.

More people unemployed for 1 to 3 months

In Q1 2024, more people were likely to be unemployed for 1 to 3 months year on year. The number of people that were unemployed for 3 to 6 months also increased, relative to two years previously. The number of long-term unemployed (1 year or more) declined.

Employment inflow slightly higher than outflow

Unemployment trends are the result of underlying flows between those in employment, the unemployed and those who are not part of the labour force. This is visualised in the chart below. The graph below the chart shows the changes in these different flows over the past few months.

Unemployment can increase or decrease due to four different changes in people’s circumstances. Two of these can lead to lower unemployment: when unemployed people find a job, and when unemployed people stop seeking employment and leave the labour market.

There are also two changes that can lead to higher unemployment: when people who have lost their job seek employment, and when people who were previously not part of the labour market start seeking employment. If people in these groups do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labour force.

In the first months of 2024, unemployment grew mainly because more people outside the labour force were seeking employment. In April, that inflow declined somewhat again (123 thousand in the previous three months), but still inflow exceeded outflow, causing unemployment to rise slightly.
The number of people outside the labour force who found work immediately was 178 thousand over the previous three months. That number has been declining for some time. In December 2023, 221 thousand people found work over the previous three months.

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.