Unemployment keeps on falling

Unemployment has reached its lowest level in six years in Switzerland, with the jobless rate dropping 0.1 per cent to 2.3 per cent in June.

According to figures released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) on Monday, the number of people getting unemployment benefit was 91,477 at the end of the last month, or nearly 3,700 fewer than in May.

However if seasonal factors are taken into account, the figure actually rose slightly, said the head of Seco’s labour division, Serge Gaillard, who called it a first sign that the economy was slowing down.

The unemployment rate fell mainly in the construction and hospitality sectors, while the drop was less substantial in the industrial and financial sectors.

The jobless rate is still twice as high (3.6 per cent) in western Switzerland as it is in the rest of the country.

Geneva is the worst affected with 5.5 per cent of the working population getting unemployment benefit. At the other end of Switzerland, the figure is just 0.7 per cent for Appenzell Inner Rhodes.