The seasonally adjusted Dutch jobless total rose by 8,000 to 358,000 in May, or 4.6% of the working population, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

A year ago, the jobless figure was 4.1%. More men than women lost their jobs, the CBS said.
Earlier this week, the government’s CPB think tank said the unemployment rate would reach 9.5% by the end of next year.
Economists told the Financieele Dagblad the May rise was limited but that the jobless rate will nevertheless still rise sharply.
‘I expect a strong acceleration in unemployment,’ Fortis economist Aline Schuiling told the paper. ‘The timing is always difficult because the labour market lags the economy. But a sharp increase in the second half of the year is a reasonable assumption.’