Unemployment figures continue to rise slightly in Switzerland
Published: Friday, Oct 4th 2024, 10:50
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The trend towards rising unemployment figures continues in Switzerland. This is not surprising given the worsening economic situation worldwide. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) is talking about a normalization of the situation on the labour market after the very low rates of recent years.
In September 2024, the unemployment rate in Switzerland moved up slightly to 2.5% after 2.4% in August, as reported by Seco on Friday. From April to July, the rate was 2.3%, while in September of the previous year it stood at a very low 2.0%. And in the same month of 2022, it was as low as 1.9%.
"The trend of slightly rising unemployment continued in September, as we expected," said Jean-Christophe Lanzeray, Head of the Auditing Service of the Labor Directorate and Deputy Head of the Labor Market and Unemployment Insurance Division at Seco, in a conference call.
At the end of September, a total of 113,245 people were registered as unemployed at the regional employment centers (RAV). This was 1,891 more than in August and 22,419 more than in the previous year. The unemployment rate adjusted for seasonal effects also rose by 0.1 points on the previous month to 2.6 percent. Seasonal fluctuations are particularly evident in sectors such as construction and tourism.
More unemployed in the watch industry
In the Seco statistics, there are some sectors that are confronted with higher unemployment. These include the hospitality industry (rate: 4.9%) and, above all, the watch industry (5.5%). A year ago, the unemployment rate in the latter sector was just 3.0%.
The weakening demand for watches in some international markets is well known and is also reflected in the unemployment statistics, Lanzeray noted. Swiss watch manufacturers were able to export significantly fewer timepieces to China and Hong Kong in particular this year.
The problems in the watch industry are also reflected in the latest figures on short-time working. Many of the short-time work applications approved by Seco, which soared to a good 20,000 employees in September, were in this industry.
In contrast, the figures communicated with a delay for short-time working in July have declined: The number of people affected by short-time work fell to 2566 from 6265 in June and the number of companies affected fell by 121 to 198.
More people looking for a job
The fact that more people in Switzerland are currently looking for a job fits in well with the gloomy overall picture. In September, the number of jobseekers increased by 4,137 to 184,373 within a month. Compared to the previous year, there were a fifth more jobseekers.
"We will see a further slight increase in unemployment in the coming months, mainly due to seasonal effects," said Lanzeray. However, demand for labor has also weakened somewhat in view of the weaker economic situation. In its forecast published in mid-September, Seco anticipates an average unemployment rate of 2.4% in 2024 and an increase to 2.6% in the following year.
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