Economy contracts 1.1% in third quarter, jobless total hits 6.8%

The Dutch economy contracted by a ‘considerable’ 1.1% in the third quarter of this year compared with the second, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.


Compared with a year ago, the economy shrank by 1.6%. Year-on-year there was fractional growth of 0.1% in the first six months of 2012.
The jobless total has also gone up, hitting 6.8% of the working population in October, the CBS said. In September, the official unemployment rate was 6.6%.
The youth unemployment figure in the Netherlands has now reached 13.3%.
Household spending continues to decline, with a 1.8% drop in the third quarter. This means Dutch families have now reduced their outgoings for 18 months in a row.
CBS quarterly report (in Dutch)
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