Dutch unemployment hits new record high

THE HAGUE, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Unemployment in The Netherlands rose to a record number of 675,000 in June 2013, according to figures published by the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) on Thursday.

Unemployment has increased by more than 100,000 in the past six months. After a sharp growth in March of about 30,000, the increases in April and May were limited to 7,000 and 9,000 respectively. However the figure grew by 16,000 in June.

"This is definitely a setback," said chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen of the CBS to Xinhua. "Months always have some fluctuations, but it is clear that we said goodbye to the lower rate of increase in April and May. So unfortunately we see no trend other than that of the first three months of 2013."

"There is no room for optimism yet," added Van Mulligen.

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