Brussels (BrusselsMorning) Unemployment in Brussels has, on average, remained stable in 2021 compared to 2020 and only increased slightly compared to 2019, as per the report published by BRUZZ. But the Brussels employment service Actiris warns of an increase if the support measures are stopped.
The Brussels region had an average of 88,780 job seekers in 2021. That is 23 fewer than in 2020 and 733 more than in 2019, the year before the corona crisis. Towards the end of the year, unemployment in the capital also started to fall: 87,295 unemployed job seekers were registered at the end of December, 3.6 percent less than a year earlier.
Actiris notes that young people in Brussels have benefited more from the economic recovery. The annual average was 8,847 job seekers under the age of 25. That is a decrease of 3 percent compared to 2020. At the end of December, there were 8,980 unemployed young people, which is even 10 percent less than a year earlier.
“While young people are generally the first victims of the crisis, they are also the first to benefit from the economic recovery and the increase in recruitment,” Actiris explains in a press release.
Support until the end of March
According to the employment service, the rise in unemployment in Brussels has remained limited during the corona crisis, due to the various support measures taken by the government to keep companies afloat. Those measures were extended in December until the end of March.
If the measures are eventually stopped, Actiris expects that more people will knock on the door for help. The service cannot say how many there will be. “Now we have a decrease of 3.6 percent in December, but then that could go to a stabilization or a slight increase. That is difficult to predict,” said spokesman Jan Gatz.
Actiris received 60,222 job offers from employers last year. That is 88.4 percent more than in 2020 and 71.8 percent more than in 2019. “An encouraging trend, explained both by the economic recovery of recent months and by an improved registration of vacancies,” it reads.