More worrisome news for those looking for a job in the Netherlands, as unemployment growth was relatively high in April, according to Statistics Netherlands.

The total number of unemployed rose by 24 thousand to 489 thousand, which amounts to an unemployment rate of 6,2 percent. This increase is significantly higher than the average monthly unemployment growth of 7 thousand observed over the previous three months. Furthermore, this is the highest unemployment rate observed in the Netherlands in over six years.

The Netherlands has officially been in a recession since the end of last year. While the average unemployment rate was stable in 2011, unemployment has been increasing in Dutch cities, and long-term unemployment is also on the rise.

Unemployment increased among both genders in April, and during this period the average monthly unemployment growth was particularly high among people in the age categories 15-25 and 45-65.

On the other hand, according to the Institute for Implementation of Employees’ Insurances (UWV), during April the total number of unemployment (WW) benefits decreased by more than 3 thousand to 292 thousand, and was reduced in nearly all sectors. The number of benefits decreased especially among under-25s and men.

Not surprisingly, the most substantial reductions took place in sectors subject to seasonal variation, such as agriculture and construction.

More than one quarter of the unemployment benefits were paid to workers over the age of 55, whose ranks increased by nearly 14 percent over the past year to 76 thousand people.

The number of unemployment benefits paid to people under the age of 25 was limited (12 thousand), but their numbers have grown by almost 41 percent over the past twelve months.