Unemployment in the Brussels-Capital region saw a rise in February compared to the previous year. According to a report by the employment agency Actiris on Wednesday, the Belgian capital

recorded 90,715 registered jobseekers, with an unemployment rate of 15 percent.

This marks an increase of 2,977 individuals over the course of one year, reflecting a rise of 3.4 percent. Actiris clarifies that this uptick is primarily due to an increase in the number of registered jobseekers receiving the living wage or its equivalent. These individuals now have their registration extended automatically until their entitlement to the living wage expires, resulting in a higher overall count of jobseekers.

However, when considering only the subcategory of jobseekers receiving unemployment benefits (as opposed to the living wage), there was a decrease of 3.2 percent year-on-year, totaling 49,625 individuals. The unemployment rate rose from 14.5 percent twelve months earlier to the current 15 percent.

Among jobseekers under the age of 25, there were 10,361 inactive individuals, marking a 9.2 percent increase compared to the previous year. Consequently, the unemployment rate for this age group stands at 27.6 percent. This surge in unemployment among Brussels' youth has been notable in recent months, with August of the previous year witnessing over 8,000 unemployed individuals under the age of 25, reflecting a 12.8 percent increase compared to July of the same year. Photo by euranet_plus, Wikimedia commons.