Project 02/18

Jason Lee

Econ

Mr. Schaffer

02/17/13

Unemployment in Switzerland and the reason behind it

For a number of years unemployment, at under 1%, was hardly an issue in Switzerland
Several reasons have been suggested for this stability Foreign workers with short-term permits absorbed the impact when economic times were bad Businesses did their best not to make workers redundant during periods of crisis, in order not to endanger the agreements ensuring social peace. There are few "problem" industries (mining, metallurgy) in Switzerland.However, during the economic recession of the 1990s, the number of jobless rose dramatically, reaching the record level of 5.7% in February 1997 as corporate restructuring led to staff cuts.A gradual upturn in the economy at the end of the 90s, and a change in the way the figures were calculated, caused the level of registered unemployed to fall to 1.7% in 2001.Since then the rate has fluctuated. At the end of 2007 it stood at 2.8%.Unemployment rates vary according to region: the French and Italian speaking areas have higher rates than the German-speaking ones. Women tend to be worse affected than men and foreigners worse affected than Swiss.

The Swiss central bank does not hesitate to engage in sophisticated schemes of quantitative easing when an appreciating exchange rate is squeezing their export industries or they otherwise face unpleasant macroeconomic situations.

Unemployment Rate in Switzerland increased to 3.40 percent in January of 2013 from 3.30 percent in December of 2012. Unemployment Rate in Switzerland is reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. Historically, from 1995 until 2013, Switzerland Unemployment Rate averaged 3.36 Percent reaching an all time high of 5.40 Percent in March of 1997 and a record low of 1.60 Percent in November of 2000. In Switzerland, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labor force. This page includes a chart with historical data for Switzerland Unemployment Rate.

In January of 2013, 148 thousand people were registered as unemployed with the regional employment offices (RFOs) or 5 thousand more than in the previous month. The unemployment rate increased from 3.3 percent in December of 2012 to 3.4 percent in the month under review.  http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/workers_and_jobs/unemployment/ http://www.indexmundi.com/switzerland/unemployment_rate.html http://www.tradingeconomics.com/switzerland/unemployment-rate

Project 2

The inflation rate in Switzerland was recorded at -0.40 percent in December of 2012. Historically,from 1956 until 2012, Switzerland Inflation Rate averaged 2.66 Percent reaching an all time high of 11.92 Percent in December of 1973 and a record low of -1.37 Percent in June of 1959. In Switzerland, the inflation rate measures a broad rise or fall in prices that consumers pay for a standard basket of goods.

 

Swiss index of consumer prices declined 0.3% in November of 2012 compared to the previous month. On an annual basis, inflation was -0.4%. The decline in the index of consumer prices in November 2012 was primarily due to declines in the price of fuel and oil, housing rents and food. Price indices also fell for transports (-1.0%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (-0.8%), communications (-0.5%), housing and energy (-0.4%), clothing and footwear (-0.4%), household equipment and routine maintenance (-0.3%) and hotels and restaurants (-0.1%). However, there was an increase on the price index of alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.6%), recreation and culture (0.2%) and other goods and services (0.2%). The change in the price index for health was recorded at 0%. the prices of domestic products fell by 0.1% compared to the previous month. Of those, the imported goods fell by 0.9%. On an annual basis, the prices of domestic products rose 0.1%, while those of imported products were down 1.6%. The decline in the index of food and non-alcoholic beverages is largely due to lower prices for vegetables (including cucumbers, courgettes and aubergines), sausages, citrus fruits, powdered soups, pasta, chocolate and cheese. After several decreases in the previous months, it was recorded a price increase for pastries, bakeries and other grain products. The index of communications declined primarily due to lower prices for communications over the mobile network. In housing and energy, the index decline is explained by lower oil prices (-4.1%; reference days: 2 and 15 November) and the Rental Housing (-0.2%). The clothing and footwear group reported a lower index due to promotional offers practiced mainly on women's shoes.