The average number of jobseekers in Brussels dropped in 2019 to 88,047, its lowest level since 2003, the regional employment office, Actiris, indicated on Tuesday in a press release.
Generally, unemployment has gone down by over 20% in five years, Actiris added.
Based on the 2019 annual average, the jobless rate in the Brussels Region is 15.7%, 15.2% for men and 16.2% for women. In 2010, the rate was 20.4%.
The reduction of joblessness among young people “began nine years ago and has continued unabated since then,” according to the agency. The number of young, unemployed persons dropped by 47.3% from 16,079 in 2010 to 8,479 in 2019.
Low-skilled job seekers – those without a certificate of basic education, CESS, or an equivalent diploma – were the biggest beneficiaries of the drop in unemployment. Their numbers decreased by 22.6% in five years.
“Our dearest wish for 2020 would be to be able to provide even more solutions for all categories of jobseekers,” said Actiris Director General Grégor Chapelle. “I’m thinking namely of jobseekers for whom long-term unemployment and/or foreign origins are, unfortunately, constraints in their search for jobs.”
The Brussels Times
