The number of hours worked by temporary agency workers in Belgium in July decreased by 2.83% when compared to the same period last year, according to Federgon, the Belgian Federation of Staffing Agencies.

Both the white-collar and the blue-collar sector reported year-on-year decreases of 3.18% and 2.54% in July, respectively.

Federgon also reported month-to-month figures showing that the number of hours worked by temporary agency workers decreased by 1.38% in July when compared to June. The blue-collar segment reported a decrease of 1.65% while the white-collar sector saw a decrease of 1.02%.

The Federgon index reached 113.0 points in July 2018 compared to 114.6 points the month before. This index reports the level of activity in the month under review compared to January 2007 (=100), on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Figures from Eurostat showed that the Belgium unemployment rate stood at 6.2% in July 2018.