The association between unemployment trajectories and alcohol consumption patterns. Evidence from a large prospective cohort in The Netherlands

•This study analyses longitudinally the association between different temporal dimensions of unemployment and drinking patterns.•Heavy and binge drinking are mainly related to long-term, sustained unemployment, not to brief spells of unemployment.•Unemployed highly educated individuals are more likely to increase their alcohol consumption than the medium educated.•Unemployment is associated with heavy and binge drinking, but also with higher odds of abstinence for some individuals..•Unemployment is associated with higher odds of abstinence for individuals with health issues prior to unemployment.