Wallonia has more unemployment in absolute figures: 200,608, but the annual increase was only 4.3%. In Brussels, the growth in the jobless figures came to 6.5%, while the national average stands at 10%.

However, the number of long-term unemployed is falling. Just over 195,000 people across the country have been out of work for two years or more – nearly 58,000 of them in Flanders. Men are the most affected, and men under 25 most of all: the annual increase in that segment of the population was 34%, bringing the total to 23,895.

Although the figures for September and October were better than those for the summer months, with 6,832 fewer unemployed in Belgium, and 3,675 fewer in Flanders, It’s too early to speak of a recovery. According to Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters, by the end of 2010 unemployment in the region will have gone up by 43% on 2008 figures, with no sign of an improvement before 2011.