The jobless total rose in February for the third month in a row, taking the number of people classed as unemployed to 379,000, the highest figure in almost 18 months, national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday. 

More people lost their jobs and more people registered as looking for work, taking the jobless rate to 3.7%, the CBS said. The UWV benefits agency reported a 7,000 rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit last month, taking that total to 174,000. 

At the end of last year, the number of people in the Netherlands in work hit an all time high of just over 9.8 million but is now slightly below that figure. 

The biggest increase in unemployment was among people aged 15 to 25, where 8.7% are now without work, a 0.5 percentage point rise on January. Just 3.1% of people in the 25- 45 age category are unemployed, as are 2.2% of those aged 45 to 75. 

The CBS uses the 15-to-75 age group in line with definitions drawn up by the International Labour Organisation.

Some 5.5 million workers in the Netherlands currently have a permanent contract, 2.7 million are on flexible or short contracts and 1.6 million are self-employed.