Dutch unemployment steady at 3.8% in July 2025: CBS

The number of people in paid employment rose, by an average of 5 thousand per month in the same period, as per newly released figures by CBS. At the end of July, the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) records included 188,000 current unemployment (WW) benefits.

In addition to the 388,000 people who were unemployed, 3.2 million people were not actively seeking work or not immediately available for work in July. Many of these are retirees and people who are unable to work due to illness or occupational disability. These people are not counted as part of the labour force. Averaged over the past three months, the number of people outside the labour force has fallen by 5,000 per month, CBS said in a press release.

The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) recorded 187.7, 000 current unemployment (WW) benefits at the end of July 2025, up by 4.1,00 compared with the previous month. In July, 28.8,000 new unemployment benefits were issued, and 24.7,000 benefits were terminated.

The number of WW benefits rose in 16 sectors. The largest increases were seen in education (+14.3 per cent), health and social care (+2.8 per cent), chemical industry (+2.8 per cent), other industry (+2.7 per cent), banking and insurance (+2.6 per cent).

Trends in unemployment are the result of underlying movements between those in employment, the unemployed and those who are not part of the labour force, added the release.

Unemployment shifts as people move between jobs, joblessness, and non-participation. In July 2025, 234,000 previously unemployed found work, while about 239,000 became unemployed either by losing jobs or re-entering the labour force. These inflows and outflows balanced out, keeping unemployment stable, with both trends remaining virtually unchanged over the past three months.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (SG)