Dutch Unemployment Climbs to 4%, Highest in Four Years
The statistics report shows 409,000 job seekers, with youth unemployment being the largest group.
The Dutch jobless rate climbed to 4.0% in September, equal to 409,000 people aged 15–75 without paid work who were searching and available to start. That’s the highest level since 2021 and up by an average of 8,000 people per month over the past quarter, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) said.
Who is most affected?
Unemployment remains highest among young people (15–24) at 8.8%, though slightly down from a year earlier. Rates rose for 25–44-year-olds (to 3.4%) and 45+ (to 2.6%). At the same time, about 3.2 million adults were outside the labour force (retired, ill, studying, or not seeking work), a number that has been edging down.
Benefits and sector picture
The benefits agency UWV paid 187,400 unemployment benefits at the end of September—flat versus August but +8.8% year-on-year. New and ended WW benefits each totalled 19,900 last month. Compared to a year earlier, benefits rose in most sectors, with larger increases in government and other industry; temporary employment agencies were the exception.
What’s driving the rise
CBS did not point to one single cause. The broader backdrop is a cooling labour market after a long period of tightness, while overall employment still inched up by about 4,000 per month over the past quarter. Economists also note ongoing cost pressures for employers and slower growth compared with the rebound years after the pandemic.
A higher jobless rate can ease pressure in hard-to-fill roles, but it also means more people looking for work and longer job searches in some sectors. Policymakers will watch whether the uptick persists into autumn, especially among younger workers and those on temporary contracts, who are often first affected when hiring cools.
