Flanders had 219,637 unemployed job seekers registered with the Flemish employment agency (VDAB) at the end of March, the agency reported on Friday.
This represents a 3% increase compared to the same period last year.
More than half of these job seekers (53%) were receiving unemployment benefits or had applied for them by the end of March.
This represents 115,358 people, an increase of 3%. Moreover, 95,501 job seekers (+6%) were not receiving unemployment benefits, were receiving social assistance, or were receiving sickness or replacement benefits.
The remaining 5,890 people are young in vocational training programs. Their number decreased by 34%.
At the end of March, the unemployment rate, that is, the number of job seekers relative to the Flemish labour force, stood at 6.8%, compared to 6.7% at the same time last year.
Among the approximately 220,000 job seekers counted, 57% are considered to be "long-distance" from the labour market. In other words, their chances of finding a job within six months are low (less than 35%), or they face certain health or well-being issues that must first be addressed.
The VDAB (Flemish Public Employment Service) has also reassessed the impact of the time limit on unemployment benefits implemented by the federal government.
According to the agency, nearly 30,600 Flemish job seekers risk losing their unemployment benefits between April 1 and July 1, 2026.
Specifically, 12,275 unemployed job seekers were affected by the measure on April 1.
Between April 2 and July 1, 2026, approximately 18,407 registered job seekers also risk losing these benefits.
