The Dutch unemployment rate went up slightly in August to 401,000 or 3.9% of the working population between the ages of 16 and 75, according to latest monthly figures from statistics agency CBS.

In January, unemployment rose for the first time in five months, to 3.8%. It has continued to rise by 5,000 a month in the last three months, which is mostly down to people looking for jobs but not immediately succeeding, the agency said.

Government benefit agency UWV registered 187,400 people claiming unemployment benefits at the end of August, 0.2% more than in the preceding month. The number of claimants remained stable overall.

Unemployment among people aged 45 and over rose to 2.5% in August, on a par with figures from December 2022. Unemployment in this age group has been rising since the beginning of this year, the CBS said.

In the age group 25 and 45, unemployment rose to 3.3% from 3% in December 2024. In the same period, unemployment among 15 to 25-year-olds fell slightly to 8.6%.