ZCZC
BCN-28
SWITZERLAND-JOBLESS-RATE
Swiss jobless rate drops to 2.4 pct: data
GENEVA, June 8, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – The unemployment rate in Switzerland
has reached a new low of just 2.4 percent and the number of job seekers is
the lowest since the 2008 financial crisis, government figures showed on
Thursday.
The statistics, published by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs
(SECO) show that the numbers of unemployed turning up at job centers fell by
nine percent last month, bringing the overall unemployment rate down from 2.7
percent to 2.4 percent.
This is the lowest figure since September 2008, when the financial crisis
hit much of the global economy.
The lowest unemployment rate in Switzerland in the past two decades was in
2001 when it reached 1.5 percent.
Economist Samy Chaar, was quoted by the Swiss news agency, SDA-ATS, as
saying the new figures appear to bring Switzerland closer to a period of
maximum employment, a situation usually associated with rates of around two
percent.
Currently, he explained, workers remain unemployed due to an
incompatibility with the job market, which can lead to a shortage of skilled
workers, something which can have a positive effect on salaries and thus spur
inflation.
It can also lead to increased pressure to seek skilled labor from abroad,
something Chaar said has been the “reality in Switzerland for the past 30
years”.
Swiss businesses are, however, constrained by a 2014 national vote that
set limits on immigration from surrounding European countries, and subsequent
regulations giving priority to local unemployed.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1140