The number of jobs in the Dutch economy will continue to grow in 2019 and 2020 but the increase will be slower than in previous years, the government jobs agency UWV said in its latest forecasts on Tuesday.

The two year forecast of 309,000 extra jobs will take the total number of positions in the Dutch economy to 10.8 million, the agency said. In 2017 and 2018, the economy added 467,000 jobs.

The workforce is not increasing by as much because the economy is growing less rapidly than in the previous four years, spokesman Rob Witjes said, adding that the unemployment rate may increase slightly next year.

In addition, there are a number of uncertainties in the market, such as the trade war between the US and China, as well as Brexit, he said.

The UWV also expects the number of people claiming unemployment benefit to have fallen to 234,000 by the end of next year, down 11% on the end of 2018.

Most new jobs are being created in the care sector, due to increased demand for nursing and home care services as the population gets older. The retail sector and specialised business services are also continuing to grow.

Some sectors, however, have declining workforces. In particular, the number of jobs in financial services will have fallen from 289,000 in 2007 to 212,000 by the end of 2020, the UWV said.