Swiss jobless rate continues to worsen

The unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in July, with 145,364 people out of work, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco).

Seco reported on Friday that the rate had risen from 3.6 per cent in June, an increase of 5,111 persons. The July rate is the highest since February 2006 and is 57.7 per cent higher than a year ago.

The figures show that the number of people seeking employment had risen by 5,147, to a total of 204,137. In one year the number has grown by 42 per cent or 60,339 persons, Seco said in a statement.

The number of job vacancies stands at 14,370, down from 14,855 in June.

Saara Tuuli of financial market analysts 4CAST told the Reuters news agency that further jobs losses were inevitable during the remainder of the year, “as activity levels continue to contract and firms reduce staff levels in attempts to diminish spare capacity, in turn putting pressure on consumer confidence and in turn, spending”.

She added that although the export sector might see some improvement during the second half, the household consumption of gross domestic product was likely to see some deterioration.

Analyst Fabian Heller at Credit Suisse sees the unemployment average at slightly above five per cent next year after an average of 4.1 per cent this year.

swissinfo.ch and agencies