Swiss jobless rate highest since 2021

Unemployment rate rises to 3.0 percent in January Keystone-SDA

The rate of unemployment has risen to 3% in Switzerland for the first time in over three years. However, seasonal factors were mainly responsible.

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At the end of January, 135,773 people were registered as unemployed, as reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). Some 5,480 extra people were registered as jobless, 4.2% percent more than in December.

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The Swiss unemployment rate rose from 2.8% to 3%. The last time it was this high was in December 2021. Seasonally adjusted, however, it remained at 2.7%, Seco said.

Depending on the time of year, seasonal fluctuations can influence the figures in some sectors. For example, many construction sites shut down in winter.

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Meanwhile, Seco counted 212,803 jobseekers in January. This was 3,779 or 1.8% more than in the previous month. Compared to the same month last year, this figure rose by almost 17%.

The jobseeker rate thus rose slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 4.6%.

Translated from German with DeepL/mga

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