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Swiss jobless rate falls for third straight month

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
Swiss jobless rate falls for third straight month

Switzerland's unemployment rate dropped for the third month in a row last month, according to figures released by Bern on Tuesday.

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The country's jobless rate dipped to 3.1 percent in April, down from 3.2 percent in the previous month, although it remained above the 2.8 percent level for April 2012, the state secretariat for the economy (Seco) said in a report.

The number of people seeking work last month totalled 190,367, down by 3,857 from March, while 8.1 percent higher than in April 2012, the report said.

Meantime, the number of vacant positions rose to 16,135 last month, up 113 from March.

Unemployment either dropped month-on-month or remained unchanged across the country except for the cantons of Geneva and Graubünden, Seco said.

Geneva posted the highest rate at 5.5 percent, up from 5.3 percent the previous month and 4.9 percent a year earlier.

Graubünden’s rate rose by 0.6 points to 2.2 percent.

The central Swiss cantons of Obwald and Nidwald shared the honours for lowest unemployment rate at 0.9 percent, down in each case from one percent the previous month.

Jobless levels remained unchanged in Zurich (3.2 percent) and Vaud (five percent), while dipping 0.1 points in Bern (2.3 percent), Basel-City (3.8 percent), Valais (4.1 percent) and Neuchâtel (5.1 percent).
 

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