Unemployment virtually unchanged in August 

The unemployment rate remained at 4% in August, the same as July, with around 408,000 people out of work, according to new figures from Dutch statistics bureau CBS.

While the total number of unemployed people in the Netherlands has risen, on average, by around 3,000 per month since June, the number of people leaving the labour force has also increased.

During the same time period, the number of people outside the labour force decreased by an average of 4,000 per month. Retirees and those who are unable to work due to disability or illness make up the majority of the non-labour force.

Since 2023, the number of unemployed people in the Netherlands has been slowly rising. In April, 343,000 were unemployed.

The Dutch unemployment agency UWV registered around 195,000 people on unemployment benefits. That was slightly higher, around 1.4%, than it was in July.