Unemployment in the Netherlands rose to 4% in September, the highest level in four years, according to new figures from national statistics agency CBS.

A total of 409,000 people were unemployed, an increase of around 8,000 per month on average over the past three months. Unemployment went up most among people aged 25 and over.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits (WW) remained stable at 187,000 at the end of September, figures from state benefit agency UWV show. . Compared with a year ago, the number of benefit recipients rose by 8.8%, with the largest increases in people who had worked for the public sector and in manufacturing.

The jobless rate among 25- to 44-year-olds rose from 3.1% to 3.4% over the past year, while unemployment among people aged 45 and over increased from 2.1% to 2.6%. Among young people aged 15 to 24, the rate edged down from 9% to 8.8%.

In addition to those officially unemployed, 3.2 million people were not part of the labour force in September because they were not seeking work or were unavailable for work, mainly due to retirement, illness or disability.

That number has fallen by an average of 9,000 per month in recent months.

CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen said the increase in the jobless total does not mean the economy is in trouble. “The number of people in paid work added together with the number of unemployed has never been so high, at 76.4%,” he told the AD.

“More people are looking for work and that means the number of people who don’t immediately find a job is growing too. And the 4% who are unemployed have a good chance to find a job in today’s labour market.”