The Dutch jobless total is rising at more than 500 a day and is now 8.5% of the working population, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

In June, a further 16,000 people lost their jobs, boosting the number of registered jobless to 675,000 by the end of the month. In May, the official unemployment rate was 8.3%. Nevertheless, the speed of growth has slowed the CBS said.

The over-45s have been hardest hit, with a 13% rise in unemployment over the past six months.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit (ww) has risen by 12% over the past six months to 382,000 in June.

At the same time, consumer confidence has fallen again after rising marginally for three months, the CBS said. In particular, consumers were negative about the wider economic climate.