Unemployment remains at 4%, 408,000 out of work

Over 408,000 people were out of work in September, national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

The number of jobless people rose by an average of 5,000 a month over the past three months. The number of people in paid work stayed level.

Unemployment returned to 4% in July after dipping slightly in June. A year ago, 409,000 people were out of work, also 4% of the workforce.

The recent rise is mainly down to fewer unemployed people finding work rather than people losing their jobs.

Benefits agency UWV was paying out 197,100 unemployment benefits at the end of September. The UWV figures are not directly comparable with the CBS total, which counts everyone without paid work who is actively looking for a job.

A further 3.2 million people aged 15 to 75 are not counted as part of the workforce because they have not recently looked for work or cannot start straight away. Most are retired or unable to work because of illness or disability.