Experts remain positive despite slight slowdown of Swiss economy

Switzerland's January jobless rate is the lowest in more than 20 years. © Keystone/Christian Beutler

Unemployment in Switzerland increased slightly and at a comparatively very low level in January, while the outlook is good despite the economic slowdown.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said that 100,776 people were registered as unemployed at the end of January, up 3,800 than on the previous month. As a result, the unemployment rate rose to 2.2% from 2.1% per cent.

It’s the lowest jobless rate for January in more than 20 years.

Despite the expected increase, the situation on the Swiss labour market remains favourable compared with figures from 12 months ago.

In January 2022, the number of unemployed was almost 21,500 higher.

Experts say the unemployment rate is usually subject to seasonal fluctuations because there is less work in the winter months, for example, in construction, agriculture and gastronomy.

Positive outlook

For the year as a whole, the government economists are known to expect a slight increase in unemployment. On average, a value of 2.3% is predicted for 2023 and 2.4% for 2024. “We are on track with the January figures,” SECO’s Oliver Schärli said. “But of course a lot could still happen in the course of the year.”

In general, however, the shortage of skilled workers on the Swiss labour market probably remains the bigger problem than unemployment, he added.

Read more about the reasons for a shortage of skilled labour in Switzerland: 

+ Demographic shifts cause Swiss labour market crunch