Swiss jobless rate rises in second quarter

The rate, which contrasts with the lower rate reported on a monthly basis by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), is based on the International Labour Organization definition.

The ILO definition covers people who are out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks; or out of work and have accepted a job that they are waiting to start in the next fortnight.

According to the federal statistics office, 208,000 people were out of work, the Swiss news agency SDA reported.

The 0.2 percentage point increase runs counter to the trend in the European Union where in the same period the jobless rate fell to 10.2 percent from 10.8 percent the year before.

An increase in unemployment was noted in July for the first time in six months, according to Seco.

At the same time the number of those in employment in Switzerland rose, with 4.9 million registered employed in the last three months – an increase of 1.8 percent.

The statistics office said there was a sharp rise in the number of foreigners in employment compared with the number of Swiss.

There were 1.47 million foreign citizens in the workforce – an increase of five percent – in the second quarter.

The number of Swiss employed rose by a more modest 0.5 percent to 3.44 million.