Advertisement

Unemployed foreigners drive jobless rate higher

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
Unemployed foreigners drive jobless rate higher
Cantons marked in red have the highest jobless rates (over four percent). Graphic: Seco

An increase in unemployment among foreigners drove Switzerland's overall jobless rate higher in October to 3.1 percent from three percent in the previous month, according to federal figures released on Friday.

Advertisement

The percentage of non-Swiss unemployed in the country jumped to 5.8 percent from 5.5 percent, while the rate for Swiss citizens remained unchanged at 2.2 percent, a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) shows.

A total of 132,397 people were registered as unemployed by regional job centres, up by 2,432 from September, but 0.8 percent lower than in October 2013, the report said.

The number of registered job seekers increased by 4,602 to 187,715, Seco said.

Geneva continued to record the highest unemployment rate at 5.3 percent, although this was down from 5.5 percent in September.

The lowest rate was recorded in the canton of Obwalden at 0.8 percent, unchanged from the previous month.

The canton of Graubünden recorded the biggest percentage-point increase to 1.8 percent from 1.3 percent.

Unemployment in Zurich, Switzerland’s largest job market edged up to 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent.

To access the report (available in French, German and Italian), click here.
 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also