The Netherlands’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 4% in December 2025, unchanged from the previous three months. Still, this marked the highest reading since September 2021, as the number of unemployed individuals increased by 2 thousand from the previous month to 410 thousand. Unemployment among 15- to 25-year-olds rose mainly in the second half of the year, with the rate climbing to 9.1% for young women, up from 8.7% in June 2025. The jobless rate also increased notably among men aged 25 to 45 and those aged 45 to 75. Meanwhile, employment declined by 4 thousand to 9.842 million, and the labor force participation stood at 76.2%. Compared with a year earlier, the jobless rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the 3.7% posted in December 2024.
