Unemployment rate falls in April for seasonal reasons
Published: Tuesday, May 7th 2024, 10:00
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The number of unemployed people in Switzerland fell slightly in April. However, the decline was again less pronounced than usual at this time of year.
Specifically, 106,957 people were registered as unemployed with the regional employment centers (RAV) at the end of the month, as reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) on Tuesday. This was 1636 fewer than in March. As a result, the unemployment rate fell from 2.4 percent to 2.3 percent.
The decline was almost exclusively due to seasonal factors, Boris Zürcher, Head of the Labor Directorate at Seco, told the media. In the construction sector alone, the number of unemployed fell by over 1600.
Slight seasonally adjusted increase
The unemployment rate is usually subject to seasonal fluctuations because there is more or less work in some sectors at certain times of the year due to the weather. For example, many construction sites are closed in winter, and there is also less work in tourism in the off-season.
This is masked by the adjusted unemployment figure. And this rose by 1,200 in April, with the corresponding rate remaining at 2.3 percent.
Lower decline than usual
On the one hand, the decline in unemployment in some seasonally exposed sectors was less pronounced than in previous years, according to Zürcher. Added to this is the subdued demand for labor in the mechanical, electrical and metal industries, which are feeling the effects of the weak international economy.
According to the Seco man, seasonal unemployment has been rising slightly for around a year now. However, he still sees this as a gradual normalization following a historically very low unemployment rate in the previous year. This trend will continue in the coming months.
However, according to Zürcher, there are still no signs of a dramatic rise in unemployment. Specifically, Seco is assuming an average unemployment rate of 2.3% for the current year 2024.
This is also evidenced by the development of short-time work, which is still not increasing dramatically. On the contrary, in February - the data is reported with a delay - only 3286 people were on short-time work, 2117 fewer than in the previous month.
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