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UNEMPLOYMENT

Swiss jobless rates continue to rise

More signs of Switzerland’s slowing economy emerged in the final month of 2012 as the country’s jobless rate rose to 3.3 percent, up from 3.1 percent in November.

Published: 8 January 2013 13:05 CET
Swiss jobless rates continue to rise
Photo: Canton of Geneva

A total of 142,309 people were registered as unemployed in December, 10,242 more people than the previous month, according to figures released on Tuesday by the state secretariat for the economy (Seco).

The number of people without a job jumped 8.9 percent year over year, Seco said.

The canton of Valais was particularly hard hit, with unemployment levels rising to 5.3 percent in December from four percent the previous month.

The average number of people unemployed in 2012 rose to close to 125,600, around 2,700 more than in 2011.

Seco nevertheless tried to put the figures in context, noting that they were among the best three years in the last decade.

Jobless rates remained significantly worse in French- and Italian-speaking parts of the country (4.8 percent overall, up from 4.4 percent in November) than in German-speaking cantons (2.7 percent overall, up from 2.5 percent).

Unemployment among foreigners rose significantly to 6.5 percent percent last month, up from 5.8 percent a year earlier.

The canton of Neuchâtel recorded the highest jobless rate at year’s end (5.4 percent, up from five percent in November), while Obwald registered the lowest rate at just one percent (unchanged).

 Zurich’s rate mirrored the national average, rising to 3.3 percent from 3.1 percent in November.

The canton of Geneva, with the second worst jobs record in the country, saw its rate increase in December to 5.3 percent from 5.2 percent the previous month, although this was slightly lower than the 5.4 percent recorded at the end of 2011.

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BUSINESS

Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown

Unemployment in France has fallen slightly, despite the ongoing ravages of the health crisis and consequent lockdown, latest statistics show.

Published: 27 April 2021 16:46 CEST
Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown
Photo: Stephane du Sakatin/AFP

The number of unemployed job seekers in mainland France fell by 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2021, according to figures published by the French Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.

There were 3,560,600 unemployed registered at the Pôle Emploi (unemployment office), 12,200 fewer than during the last three months of 2020.

This follows a 2.7 percent fall in the final three months of 2020 – but the rate is still up 6.8 percent compared with the first three months of 2020, before Europe began to feel the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.

Currently all ‘non essential’ shops in France have been closed since April 3rd, while bars, restaurants, cafés, gyms, cinemas, theatres, museums and tourist sites have been closed since October 2020.

Despite the fall the total number of job seekers, the number of people who were in work but with reduced hours was up by 0.8 percent at the start of 2021, to 2,156,300.

That means that in total 5,716,900 people in mainland France were registered with Pôle emploi during this period, an increase of 4.9 percent compared with a year ago.

“Over the course of 2020, in one year, unemployment rose by 8 percent. This is obviously a lot, but we must remember that during the crisis of 2008-2009, unemployment leapt by 25 percent, so we can see that the government assistance is working,” Minister of Labour Élisabeth Borne told BFMTV on Tuesday.

The French government has put together a huge package of economic aid to try and mitigate the effects of the repeated lockdowns, from chômage partiel (furlough) schemes for employees to aid packages for business owners and the self-employed. But many small retailers have been hit hard by the three periods of closure for non-essential shops, while the tourist, leisure and hospitality sectors have also had a devastating year.

The economic downturn linked to the pandemic has disproportionately affected young people in France.  Across all categories of job seekers (unemployed and with reduced hours), the latest figures show a rise of 7.1 percent in a year for those under 25, compared to 4.5 percent for the 25-29 age range, and 4.8 percent for those aged 50 and over.

Men are also more likely to have signed up to Pôle emploi, with a 6.1 percent increase on last year, compared to a 3.8 percent increase among women.

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