Switzerland’s unemployment rate rebounded marginally by 0.1 percentage point in December to stand at 2.6%.
Seasonally adjusted (CVS), however, this indicator continued the contraction observed throughout the year to stand at 2.4% in December, down from 2.5% a month earlier. In January again, the CVS rate stood at 3.3%.
On an annual average, the 2021 unemployment rate is 3.0%, the State Secretariat for the Economy (Seco) indicates on Friday in its periodic statement.
Impact cushioned by exceptional measures
Federal economists specify that the two increases in the duration of receipt of unemployment benefit, as well as the extension of the duration of receipt of persons potentially entitled to transitional benefits have made it possible to ensure the economic security of persons potentially entitled. unemployed and subsequently discharged from social assistance.
The use of partial unemployment (RHT) has, as in 2020, helped to mitigate the deleterious effects of the health crisis on companies and workers.
At the end of December, the number of unemployed reached 121,728 people, a good quarter less than a year earlier. That of job seekers had fallen by a fifth to 209,676 people.
During the month of December alone, the number of young people up to 24 years old registered with the regional placement offices (ORP) has eroded by 1.7% or 182 people to stand at 10,569. That of the over 50s, on the other hand, increased by nearly 5% to 37,754 people.
Men represented almost 60% of all registered unemployed, and there were as many Swiss unemployed as foreign unemployed.
The number of vacant places reported to the ORPs fell by 3,021 to 47,531 places, of which 33,503 were subject to declaration.
In October, the last month for which these data are available, partial unemployment affected 48,264 people, or 8.2% less than in September.
The number of companies having used HRT declined from 1,111 units to 7,917, when the number of working hours thus lost fell by almost 12% to 296,1129 clock revolutions.
Still in October and according to still provisional data, 2,539 people exhausted their rights to unemployment insurance benefits.
New extraordinary federal contribution
The main income of the compensation fund reached 7.61 billion francs, while the amount of unemployment benefits amounted to 6.75 billion. The extraordinary financing granted for the second consecutive year by the Confederation must however have brought the total revenue to 14.03 billion, when the contribution to the indemnities paid in the event of RHT will have increased the disbursements to 14.25 billion.
Unemployment insurance thus shows a surplus of 0.22 billion, against 0.14 billion in 2020.
This article was published automatically. Sources: ats / awp
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