The number of jobs in the Netherlands grew by 42,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, the biggest growth in 3.5 years, the national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

In particular, there were more jobs being done by temporary employees and freelancers, the CBS said.

In total, there are now some 9.8 million jobs in the Netherlands, up 64,000 on a year ago, the CBS said. Nevertheless, this is still 100,000 down on the end of 2008, the CBS said.

There was also a 6,000 increase in the number of vacancies, which shows the situation on the jobs market has further improved in 2014, the CBS said.

Despite the good news on the jobs market, the number of long-term unemployed is increasing. In particular, the over-45s are finding it hard to get a job and 60% have not had a job in a year.