Swiss labour market remains strong

Seco: "The Swiss labour market remains strong" Keystone-SDA

The Swiss labour market continues to show signs of strength against a backdrop of geopolitical and economic uncertainties.

This was stated by Jérôme Cosandey, head of the labour division at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), while commenting via teleconference on the unemployment figures (3% in August).

The only significant increase was among young people aged between 15 and 24, with the unemployment rate rising to 3.4% in the eighth month of the year. This was an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared with July, with 2,400 more people out of work (bringing the total to 14,700).

According to Cosandey, however, this is a perfectly normal seasonal phenomenon as every summer, thousands of young people who have finished school, vocational training or university enter the labour market and have not yet found a job.

Unemployment in this age group usually peaks in August. The number of unemployed under-20s then falls rapidly as autumn approaches, while for 20–25-year-olds the situation improves significantly at the start of the following year. “It should happen this time too,” he said.

The figure also confirms a structural difference: young people are more at risk of being unemployed, but find new jobs much more quickly than older age groups.

On average, it takes just over three months for those under 25 to come off the unemployment register, while for the over-55s it takes more than nine months.

There are also positive signs from short-time working: this scheme, which allows companies to temporarily reduce working hours without making redundancies, is being used less and less, confirming the resilience of Switzerland’s manufacturing sector, concludes Cosandey.

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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.