More unemployed than job vacancies
The number of job vacancies in the Netherlands fell in the third quarter of this year with 2,000 fewer roles available. In contrast, the number of unemployed rose by 13,000. For every 100 unemployed people, there are currently 97 job vacancies. This is according to figures from Centraal Bureau voor Statistiek, CBS (Statistics Netherlands). It is the first time in 4 years that this has happened in the Netherlands.
Source: CBS.nl
Let's start with the positive news: more than 358,000 vacancies were filled in the last quarter. Most of the vacancies are in the healthcare, trade and business services sectors. These sectors still account for more than half of all vacancies. There have been no major fluctuations, although sectors such as construction and education have slightly more vacancies than in the previous quarter. In sectors such as communications and financial services, the number of vacancies has fallen slightly in the last quarter.
In addition to fewer vacancies, there are also 7,000 fewer jobs in the country compared to the previous quarter. Sharp declines can be found mainly in the cultural sector, communications and ICT. Healthcare, public administration and construction still offer plenty of employment opportunities. The strongest increase was in agriculture and fisheries.
Unemployment has risen to almost 4% of the working population. The term “unemployed” refers to the unemployed working population, people who are currently without paid work but who have recently been working or actively seeking work. In addition, there is also a group of people who belong to the non-working population. It is striking that more people from the non-working population started looking for work in the second quarter of this year. This increased the number of people available in the unemployed working population. This is not necessarily a negative development. Ultimately, more unemployed people found work than those in work became unemployed.
Noteworthy:
- Unemployment increased mainly among people aged 25 and over, while more young people aged 15-24 found work.
- Part-time workers who want to work more hours are not included in the unemployment figures and therefore belong to the untapped labour potential.
- In the province of Limburg, there are 98 job vacancies per 100 unemployed people, which puts us at the average. View more data on labour market tension by region (in Dutch).
