Unemployment fell in April but underused workforce grew: CBS

Dutch unemployment fell to 3.9% of the labour force in April from 4% in March, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday. The number of unemployed stood at 397,000, with the figure down by an average of 6,000 per month over the past three months.

Benefits agency UWV recorded 203,100 active unemployment benefit payments at the end of April, a 0.5% rise on the previous month and the fourth consecutive month above 200,000.

Underused workers at post-Covid high

Separate CBS findings also show the number of part-timers who want and are available for more work rose to 574,000 in the first quarter – up 40,000 from a year earlier, and the highest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

These underused part-timers want an average 8.5 extra hours per week, up slightly from 8.3 a year ago. The unemployed also want longer hours: 26.1 a week in the first quarter, against 25.5 in early 2025.

Roughly half of the 574,000 – some 273,000 – are students looking for bigger side jobs or for full roles after they graduate. The rest are working adults who say their current hours fall short of what they would take on.

Unemployment over the quarter as a whole was also up year-on-year, rising from 407,000 to 428,000. Combined, the unmet hours add up to the equivalent of 401,000 full-time jobs, up from 370,000 a year earlier.

Higher-educated workers driving the rise

Among workers not in formal education, the year-on-year rise in part-timers wanting more hours came entirely from those with an higher education – either professional or research-university degrees. Their numbers rose from 120,000 to 145,000.

The rise in unemployment was also concentrated outside formal education, where the jobless figure climbed from 253,000 to 272,000.

CBS noted that the April figures are provisional and carry more uncertainty than usual after a data-centre fire disrupted survey responses earlier this spring.