Fewer people in paid employment

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© ANP / Peter Hilz
A total of 9.8 million people were in paid employment in August 2024. This number has fallen by an average of 18 thousand per month over the previous three months, which means that 73.0 percent of people aged 15 to 74 years were employed. The labour force participation rate remained approximately equal until July. Over the past three months the number of employed people has risen slightly by an average of 2 thousand per month to 374 thousand. As a result, the unemployment rate amounted to 3.7 percent in August. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures. At the end of August, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 171 thousand recipients of unemployment (WW) benefit. That was 6.5 thousand more than at the end of July.

Over 3.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were not in paid employment in August. In addition to the 374 thousand people who were unemployed, 3.2 million people were not actively seeking work or not immediately available for work. Many of these are retirees and people who are unable to work due to sickness or incapacitation. These people are not counted as part of the labour force. Averaged over the past three months, the number of people outside the labour force has risen by 16 thousand per month.

Decline in labour force participation in August

In August, there was a drop in the employment rate to 73 percent. From January to July, this percentage had been hovering at around 73.3. The decline in August affected mostly young people and those over 45. The employment rate among 55 to 59-year-olds has been declining since the beginning of 2024. Among people aged 60 and over, however, there was an increase in the first half of 2024.

UWV: number of recipients of WW benefit increased by 4 percent in August

At the end of August, UWV was providing unemployment (WW) benefit to 170.7 thousand people. That was an increase of 6.5 thousand (or 4.0 percent) compared to July. In August, 29 thousand new unemployment benefits were granted, and 22.5 thousand were terminated.

UWV: increase in unemployment benefits largest in the education sector

Compared to the previous month, the number of unemployment (WW) benefit recipients increased the most sharply in the education sector (up by 38.7 percent). This number usually rises during the summer months due to the expiration of employment contracts in this sector at the end of the school year. Declines were seen in the construction sector, in particular (down by 3.0 percent), and also in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector (down by 2.0 percent).

Fewer unemployed people are finding jobs and more are becoming unemployed

Unemployment trends are the result of underlying movements 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. The first change occurs when an unemployed person finds a job. The second change occurs when an unemployed person stops seeking work and leaves the labour market. In August 2024, 229 thousand people who had been unemployed three months previously, found employment.

There are also two movements in the opposite direction, which can lead to higher unemployment. The first happens when an employed person loses their job and the second when a person who was previously unavailable for work decides to seek employment. If people in these groups do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labour force. The total number of people who became unemployed in July (236 thousand) was slightly higher than the number of people who left the unemployed labour force. As such, the number of unemployed persons has increased slightly over the past 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 benefit. The figures released by UWV do not correspond directly with the labour force indicators.

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