15.7%

fewer job vacancies in July this year than the same time last year, according to the employment agency VDAB. However, open vacancies for highly skilled jobs rose by 3.1%

19,392

building permits granted for new houses and apartments in Belgium in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 44% on the same period last year and the best figure for the period in five years

60%

of truck drivers stopped by police in a spot-check in Mechelen were in breach of the rules on driving hours and rest periods. Of the 25 trucks checked, 15 were fined, 14 of those coming from outside Belgium

9,358

more places in the trams of Ghent and Antwerp, with the purchase by public transport authority De Lijn of 48 new low-floor trams – 38 for Antwerp and 10 for Ghent – approved by mobility minister Hilde Crevits