3.5% of Dutch labour force unemployed in May 2023

From March to May, unemployment declined slightly by an average of a thousand per month. In the same period, the employed labour force grew by an average of 9,000 per month to 9.7 million.

At the end of May, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 151,000 unemployment (WW) benefits.

In May, 3.6 million aged 15 to 74 did not have paid work for a variety of reasons.

Aside from the unemployed, 3.2 million people were not looking or immediately available for work; they are not counted towards the labour force. These are mainly retirees and people unable to work due to illness or disability.

From March to May, the number of people outside the labour force declined by an average of 6,000 per month.

At the end of May 2023, the UWV provided 151,000 WW benefits. This was 5,400 fewer than in the preceding month (minus 3.5 percent).

In May, 20,300 WW benefits were terminated and 14,900 new benefits were granted.

Relative to May 2022, there was a decrease in the number of current unemployment benefits of 8.4 per cent.

In May, there were 3,000 fewer unemployed than three months earlier. This decline is the result of underlying flows between the employed, unemployed and non-labour force.

Unemployment fell in May (relative to three months previously) because the number of people in work who became unemployed was smaller than the number of unemployed who found a job. The balance stood at minus 32,000 in May, which was slightly less than in the previous month.

Unemployment increased due to the inflow of unemployed from outside the labour force. This increase amounted to 28,000 on balance, which is up on the April figure.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)