The bill for Dutch unemployment benefits (ww) fell by 7% to €5.7bn last year, according to new figures from the benefit payment agency UWV.

‘The jobs market is growing again, but the position of older workers and people with some form of disability still requires specific attention,’ UWV chairman Bruno Bruins said at the presentation of the agency’s annual report.

The number of unemployment benefit claims fell from 446,000 to 412,000 over the year and likely to drop to 348,000 by the end of 2017, Bruins said. This is still double the total of claims being made before the start of the economic crisis in 2018.

The total benefit bill, including the various forms of invalidity benefit, was down 2% at €20.5bn.