Dutch unemployment rose slightly in May, even though more young men entered the workforce, according to new figures from national statistics office CBS.

The number of unemployed in May stood at 323,000 (3.3%) of the working population), a slight rise over April’s 3.2%. This was due mostly to an increase in the number of people who are retired or unable to work.

Looking at the bigger picture, the trend over the past three months is one of continued decline in the jobless total. In July 2020’s Covid-induced unemployment hit 5.5%. percent.

The CBS also said on Thursday that more young men in particular have entered the workforce – and their number has now overtaken that of young women by a small margin.  It is the first time since the CBS started measuring the difference in 2003 that more young men have worked than women.

Young men are more likely to have permanent contracts than their female counterparts, although most young people work as flex workers, with either a fixed-term employment contract or as more flexible on-call or stand-in workers. Most young people also work part-time, the CBS said.

Covid

Young people tend to be employed in the commercial, logistics or service professions—especially catering. Hospitality jobs among the young increased in the past year, a result of the sector’s recovery following Covid lockdowns.

Childcare and teaching assistant jobs also increased significantly among both young men and women, while young men were found in larger numbers in tech, business and administration positions, especially as transport planners or logistics workers.