The number of hours worked by temporary workers in Belgium in June increased by 9.9% when compared to the previous year, according to Federgon, the Belgian Federation of Staffing Agencies.

When compared to the previous month, the number of hours were up by 3.5% from the previous month (seasonally adjusted and calendar effects). 

The year-on-year increase in June was a result of an increase of 11.2% in the number of hours worked by blue-collar workers and 8.0% in the number of hours worked by white-collar workers. On a month-to-month basis, blue-collar temp worker hours increased by 3.1% and white-collar temp worker hours increased by 4.0%.

Meanwhile, according to figures from Eurostat, Belgium’s unemployment rate stood at 7.6% for the quarter ending in June 2017.

The Federgon index reached 277.3 points in June 2017 against 267.9 points in May. This index reflects the level of activity in the month studied compared to the base month of January 1995 (= 100 points), on a seasonally adjusted basis.