In November, 323.993 fully unemployed jobseekers received unemployment allowances, the National Employment Office (ONEM) announced on Monday.
This was 2.6% less (-8,674) than in November 2018.
Unemployment is on the decrease in all age groups except the 60-65s, among whom it went up by 19.6% or 7,339 persons.
"However, the rule change increasing the age limit for exemption from the obligation to register as a jobseeker needs to be taken into account,” ONEM cautioned, recalling that “the minimum age for the exemption was raised from 63 to 64 years in 2018.”
Full unemployment among young people (under the age of 25) went down by 999 jobseekers or 3.8%.
The biggest drop in joblessness was registered in Flanders, where unemployment went down by 4.7% or 6,296 persons. On the other hand, Brussels-Capital Region registered 1,630 more unemployed jobseekers (+2.6%).
In November, there were 127,971 fully unemployed persons in Flanders, 131,975 in Wallonia and 64,047 in Brussels-Capital Region.
Temporary unemployment, for its part, increased sharply, going up by 25.6% (+23,170 persons) on an annual basis, mainly because of inclement weather. The number of temporarily unemployed workers was 113,524 in November 2019.
Meanwhile, 348 persons saw their right to integration allowances expire in November, according to provisional figures from ONEM. The total for the preceding months of 2019 was 3,279 persons.
The Brussels Times
