Unemployment comes to a standstill

Both the Dutch and European unemployment rates have not fallen in recent months. The average unemployment rate in the EU countries will be 6.3 from May 2019, and the Dutch rate will be 3.5 from August. This makes the Netherlands one of the 6 EU countries with the lowest unemployment rate. Statistics Netherlands reports this on the basis of new figures.

In the spring of 2019, the Netherlands had the lowest unemployment rate since the start of the crisis in 2008. In March through May, 3.3% of the labour force was unemployed. From June onwards, this percentage rose slightly to 3.5 percent in August. After that, unemployment remained the same. This levelling off is also visible in the EU-28. The average unemployment rate in the EU will be 6.3 percent from May 2019.

For the EU, the unemployment figures are known up to and including October 2019. Figures for the Netherlands are available up to and including November 2019.