Unemployment rate remains at 3.6% in July

In July, nearly 3.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were not working for a variety of reasons. In addition to the 370,000 unemployed, nearly 3.2 million people were not actively looking for work or were not immediately available to work. Many of these people are retirees and people who cannot work due to illness or incapacity. These people are not counted as part of the labor force. The number of people outside the labor force has increased by an average of 6,000 per month over the past three months.

UWV: Number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell by 2.2% in July

At the end of July 2021, the UWV provided unemployment (WW) benefits to 164,200 people. This is 36,000 fewer people (or 2.2%) than in June. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits usually decreases at this time of year, as there are usually more job opportunities in industries such as construction and agriculture. In July, 18,800 new unemployment benefits were granted and 22,400 benefits were terminated.

UWV: Construction industry sees biggest drop in unemployment

Compared to the previous month, the largest decreases in the number of people receiving unemployment benefits were in the construction industry (down 7.8%), agriculture, landscaping and fishing (down 6.7%), and accommodation and food services (down 4.3%). The only industry that saw an increase in unemployment benefits was the cultural industry (up 0.6%). However, in absolute terms, the number of additional people receiving unemployment benefits is very small (10 people).

More unemployed people find jobs than unemployed people find work

Unemployment trends are the result of underlying flows between employed people, unemployed people, and people out of the labor force. This trend is visualized in the chart below. The chart below shows how these different flows have changed over the past few months.

The unemployment rate can increase or decrease due to four different changes in people’s circumstances. Two of these changes can cause the unemployment rate to fall. The first change occurs when an unemployed person finds a job. The second change occurs when an unemployed person stops looking for a job and leaves the labor force. In July 2024, 235,000 people who were unemployed three months ago found a job.

There are also two opposite trends, which can lead to an increase in the unemployment rate. The first is when employed people become unemployed, and the second is when people who were previously unable to work decide to look for work. If people in these groups do not find work immediately, they become part of the unemployed labor force. The total number of unemployed people in July (232,000) was slightly lower than the number of people leaving the unemployed labor force. Therefore, the number of unemployed people has fallen slightly over the past three months.

Yesterday, CBS reported based on quarterly data that the number of unemployed people in the second quarter of 2024 also fell slightly compared to the first quarter, and the number of jobs continued to increase during this period. The number of permanently employed workers increased in particular in the second quarter of 2024. In the long term, the industries with an increase in the number of permanently employed workers are mainly public administration and public services, education, and health and welfare.

CBS publishes labor force data monthly in accordance with the guidelines of the International Labor Organization (ILO). Corresponding indicators (i.e. employed and unemployed labor force) are used around the world to describe the cyclical development of the labor market. In this respect, the monthly data are of vital importance. In addition, the UWV publishes its own monthly data on unemployment benefits. The data published by the UWV do not correspond directly to the labor force indicators.