Unemployment in Brussels falls

4 June 2007

BRUSSELS – Unemployment continued to fall in Brussels in May. At the end of last month there were a total of 90,930 Brussels residents without a job, a decrease of 7.2 percent compared to the same month last year.

The unemployment rate was 19.8 percent, according to a press release from the Brussels regional employment agency BGDA.

The decrease continued among both men and women in May. It is also remarkable that fewer young job seekers were unemployed. The number of unemployed people under the age of 25 fell in fact by 11.1 percent in May.

Considerably more job openings were submitted to the BGDA in May, a total of 4,628 – three times more than in the same month last year. This increase is the result of publishing job openings from other regions, the press release reports. If the number of temporary jobs on offer are also included, the total comes to 8,107 job openings.

There was a strong decline in unemployment in the Flanders region as well in May.

Subject: Belgian news