Matthijs Bouman predicts a painful recession

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The first dip of the current economic crisis was barely felt in the Netherlands. Predictions by the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) on how bad it was going to be have proved to be way off base. Instead of the predicted unemployment rate of 9%, unemployment stayed at 4%. Purchasing power even rose 1.8% in 2009.

Reporter Matthijs Bouman (RTL-Z, Z24) predicts at Z24 that the factors that made the first dip so mild are exactly what will make the second dip painful. During the first dip companies still had some money, and managed to keep personnel on the payroll, he quotes CPB. Human resources managers still remembered how difficult it was during the boom to get skilled labour, and did not want to let go so soon.

Bouman thinks that companies will now be hitting the bottom of their reserves, and that the ensuing unemployment will make the second ‘dip’ of this crisis so much worse.

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