At the end of December, 96,941 people were registered as unemployed in regional employment centers (RAV). The rate was 2.1 percent in the last month of the year, after 2.0 percent in November, as the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (Seco) announced on Monday. Economists polled by the AWP news agency expected values of this magnitude.
The unemployment rate is often subject to seasonal fluctuations, as there are fewer jobs in the winter months, for example in the construction, agriculture and gastronomy sectors. The unemployment rate, adjusted for seasonal factors by Seco, even dropped to 1.9 percent in December 2022, after 2.0 percent the previous month.
Compared to December 2021, the number of unemployed was 24,787 lower. It was 20.4 percent lower.
According to Seco, labor market development in 2022 is “characterized increasingly by labor supply shortages”. This resulted in a long-term miscarriage for the year as a whole. The average unemployment rate in 2022 was 2.2 percent. This is 0.8 percentage points less than the previous year.
In absolute figures, 99,577 people were registered as unemployed last year, which was 38,037 fewer than the previous year (-27.6%).
According to Seco, this is the lowest unemployment rate in more than 20 years. According to the information obtained, a lower unemployment rate of 1.7 percent was last reported in 2001.
But things that make employees happy are difficult for companies. In the last year, it has become increasingly difficult to find workers.
The drying up of the job market in Switzerland can be seen from the job search data. That number was 167,904 in December, up 2.1 percent from November, according to Seco. But a year ago, 41,772 more people were looking for work.
The number of jobs reported to RAV fell 7,973 to 48,473 in the month under review. According to the information obtained, 36,706 of the workplaces reported to be open were subject to the registration requirement for occupations with an unemployment rate of at least 5 percent. These occupations include the hotel and catering industry or construction to name a few. The list is updated for each new year.
The short-time working tool no longer plays any role in the Swiss labor market. In October – data are reported with a lag – only 1,894 people were still in short-term employment. The number of short-time workers increased by 24.2 percent compared to September and reached 369 people. However, the number of companies affected by the short-run decreased by six to 175 companies.
(SDA)