Figures released on Friday morning by the Flemish Employment and Vocational Training Service VDAB show that last month unemployment in our region rose to 6%. At the end of last month there were a total of 192,177 jobseekers in Flanders. This is 8% up on the number of people that were unemployed in the region at the end of May last year.
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Unemployment in Flanders rises to 6%
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The influx of people fleeing the war in Ukraine is cited as one of the contributory factors to the rise in unemployment in Flanders. Ukrainians account for around one third of the 0.4% year-on-year rise in the unemployment rate.
At the end of May 2022 unemployment in our region stood at 5.6%. Much of the rest of the increase is made up of people that were formally not considered to be “professionally active” but are now being encouraged and indeed expected to look for work. They currently account for 1 in 4 of all jobseekers. This group includes people on long-term sickness benefit and those currently following integration courses. VDAB is currently making more and more effort to get people from these groups (back) into work.
Meanwhile, the number of jobseekers claiming unemployment benefit has fallen by 5%.