Unemployment rate rises in January – normalization continues
Published: Wednesday, Feb 7th 2024, 10:10
Retour au fil d'actualité
The number of unemployed people in Switzerland rose in January. This is mainly due to seasonal factors, but the weakening economy is also increasingly playing a role.
At the end of January, 113,175 people were registered as unemployed with the regional employment centers (RAV), as reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) on Wednesday. This was a good 6300 more than in December. The rate is now 2.5 percent after 2.3 percent in the previous month of December.
Oliver Schärli, Head of the Labor Market/Unemployment Insurance Division at Seco, nevertheless only spoke to the media of a "slight increase". In a long-term comparison, the rate is still at a low level.
After the pandemic, the labor market was in very good shape. "What we're seeing now is a certain normalization," says Schärli.
Adjusted only slight increase
In addition, the current increase is primarily due to seasonal factors. Adjusted for these seasonal effects, the number of unemployed actually only rose slightly, so that the adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.2%.
The unemployment rate is known to be subject to seasonal fluctuations because there is less work in the winter months, for example in construction, agriculture and catering. This is masked by the adjusted figure.
Economic slowdown
Seco man Schärli nevertheless conceded that the current economic slowdown is having certain effects. The trend of lower demand for labor, which has been observed for several months, continued in January. As a result, seasonally adjusted unemployment in the watch industry, for example, has increased.
The slowdown in the global economy has also recently been reflected in short-time working. The number of people affected in September, October and November was back above 4,000 - after falling below the 3,000 mark in August.
Short-time working tends to increase
More recent figures are not yet available. However, Schärli expects the trend to continue. The export-oriented mechanical, electrical and metal industries, which are feeling the effects of the economic downturn in key sales markets, are particularly affected. According to Schärli, however, short-time working is also still at a low level.
All in all, Schärli expects the current trends on the labor market to continue over the course of the year. An annual average unemployment rate of 2.3% is predicted, following a very low 2.0% in 2023. A further increase to 2.5% is then forecast for 2025.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic