Number of jobless drops further

Swiss job-seekers are still looking for light at the end of the tunnel despite better prospects Keystone

Unemployment has fallen yet again in Switzerland, dropping for the sixth month in a row according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco).

The jobless rate was cut from 3.6 to 3.5 per cent at the end of July, while the number of people seeking work also fell slightly.

At the end of last month, 139,902 people were registered with local unemployment offices, 759 fewer than in June.

The number of job-seekers nationwide dropped to 208,300, nearly 2,000 fewer than in the previous month.

But as summer began job vacancies were down, with 9,128 positions available, 469 fewer than in June.

The figures from Seco show that the number of people whose entitlement to unemployment benefit ran out in May was 2,549.

More than a quarter of these were still registered with regional job placement centres at the end of July, while another 358 had found a position in the meantime.

Seco said the other 1,520 could have found gainful employment, started or continued further education, gone abroad or continued their job search without informing a work placement centre.

Unemployment benefit is normally paid out for a period of 400 working days. It is equivalent to 70 per cent of a person’s salary, or a monthly maximum of SFr6,230 ($4,922).

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Key facts

In July 139,902 people in Switzerland were registered as unemployed in job centres, a drop of 759 for the month.
The unemployment rate dropped from 3.6 to 3.5 per cent.
In the same month the number of people registered as looking for a job went down by 1,957 to 208,300.

In brief

Seco defines “unemployed” as non-gainfully employed people who are registered at a cantonal job centre and are immediately placeable.

A “jobseeker” is any employed or unemployed person who is registered at a regional work-placement centre and who is looking for a job.