Unemployment rises for first time in five months to 3.8%

Unemployment in the Netherlands rose in January for the first time in five months, according to the most recent CBS statistics.

Last month, there were 386,000 unemployed people – 3.8% of the working population, compared to December, when 3.7% of people were unemployed.

“The increase in unemployment was not due to more people losing their jobs,” says CBS, “but because more people went looking for work and did not find work immediately.”

Although unemployment increased across the age spectrum, it was most pronounced in young people. The unemployment rate among 15-to-25-year-olds rose from 8.7% to 8.9%.

Although youth unemployment has been rising steadily, the CBS says it’s still relatively low compared to previous years.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits also increased by 14,600 from December to January, an 8% increase from the last month of 2024. The agency said that was a typical pattern as many employment contracts expire at the year’s end.

Unemployment benefits increased most in the retail trade (15.3%), culture (15.1%) and construction (13.6%) sectors.