The official Dutch unemployment rate fell to 6% in July, a drop of 0.4 percentage point on the rate three months ago, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

In July, 541,000 people were looking for work, down 30,000 on the previous quarter. The drop was sharpest among workers aged 45 plus, the CBS said. The rate for the under 25s, at 10.8%, remains almost twice the national average.

The UWV benefits payment agency paid out 300,000 new unemployment benefit claims in the first seven months of this year, down 14% on the same period in 2015. In particular fewer over-55s were claiming jobless benefits.