Unemployment rises slightly

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Switzerland has edged up for the first time in five years, authorities said on Thursday.

It rose to 2.6 per cent from 2.5 per cent in April, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). Overall, the number of registered unemployed actually fell slightly, to 100,880.

Serge Gaillard, the head of Seco, called the figures “disappointing”. Analysts said that they did not consider the rise as marking a turning point for the country’s economy, and that the jobless rate might still drop further.

The Swiss National Bank has predicted growth to slow to between 1.5 and 2.0 per cent for 2008.

The jobless rate for April 2008 was ten per cent lower than a year earlier, when it stood at 2.9 per cent. Unemployment in Switzerland’s is still way below levels in the European Union, which averages 6.7 per cent.