Number of people in employment rises – unemployment rate significantly higher
Published: Thursday, Nov 14th 2024, 08:40
Updated At: Thursday, Nov 14th 2024, 09:41
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Mixed signals are coming from the Swiss labor market. The number of people in employment rose again slightly in the third quarter of 2024. At the same time, however, the unemployment rate increased significantly.
The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) counted 5.343 million people in employment in the third quarter. This was 0.7 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the Swiss Labor Force Survey (SLFS) published on Thursday.
According to the figures, the number of employed men rose by 0.1% and the number of employed women by 1.3%. The increase among foreign nationals (+1.3%) was also significantly higher than among Swiss nationals (+0.4%).
Expressed in full-time equivalents (FTEs), the number of people in employment increased by 0.8%. Seasonally adjusted, it increased by 0.1% compared to the second quarter of 2024, according to the FSO.
Switzerland up, Europe down
The unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the third quarter. This compares to 4.3% in the same quarter of the previous year and 4.0% in the previous quarter. According to the definition of the International Labor Organization (ILO), 242,000 people were unemployed.
Seasonally adjusted, the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 4.5 percent compared to the second quarter of 2024.
These increases are noteworthy because unemployment is simultaneously falling in neighboring countries. According to the FSO, the unemployment rate fell in the third quarter of the year compared to the same quarter of the previous year, both in the EU (from 6.0% to 5.8%) and in the eurozone (from 6.5% to 6.3%).
The number of long-term unemployed in Switzerland has also risen. According to the figures, 80,000 people were long-term unemployed according to the ILO (at least one year) in the third quarter of 2024, which is 8,000 more than in the same quarter of the previous year. The share of long-term unemployed in the total number of unemployed was therefore 33.0 percent.
The ILO unemployment rate is significantly higher than the unemployment rate as defined by Seco, which only counts people registered as unemployed.
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