The number of hours worked by temporary agency workers in Belgium in September decreased by 0.89% when compared to the same period last year, according to Federgon, the Belgian Federation of Staffing Agencies.

The white-collar sector reported a slight year-on-year increase of 0.15% while the blue-collar sector reported a decrease of 1.61% in September.

Federgon also reported month-to-month figures showing that the number of hours worked by temporary agency workers decreased by 0.01% in September when compared to August. The blue-collar segment reported an increase of 0.09% while the white-collar sector saw a decrease of 0.14%.

The Federgon index reached 113.0 points in July 2018 compared to 114.0 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.

Data from Eurostat showed that Belgium’s unemployment rate stood at 6.3% in September 2018.