The unemployment rate in Switzerland rose to 2.4% on annual average in 2024, compared to 2% in 2023, the Ministry of the Economy announced on Friday, reflecting the slowdown in activity in industry. The annual average number of unemployed stood at 112,563 last year, representing 19,027 more people than in 2023, the Swiss Ministry of the Economy said in a press release.
In 2023, the unemployment rate in Switzerland reached its lowest level in more than twenty years, against a backdrop of a severe labor shortage. But it had started to rise at the end of the year, starting the 2024 financial year at 2.5% in January. It then declined, then started to rise again during the second half of the year, ending the year at 2.8% in December, details the Ministry of the Economy.
The Swiss economy is slowing down
Over the whole of 2024, the unemployment rate, however, remained below the level considered to be “cyclically neutral, which amounts to 2.8% for the period between 2010 and 2020”underlined the ministry. The Swiss economy slowed down in the third quarter, recording growth of 0.2% (compared to 0.4% in the second quarter), while industry suffered the impact of a drop in orders, particularly from Germany, Switzerland’s leading trading partner in Europe.
Last week, the purchasing managers’ index in Switzerland reported a further deterioration in employment in industry at the end of the year while order books were just below their threshold. growth in December. In December alone, the unemployment rate in Switzerland increased by 0.2% to 2.8%. The number of registrants rose to 130,293, or 9,179 more people than the previous month, said the Ministry of the Economy.
