Switzerland's unemployment rate rose in August, as expected

According to the report from State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), at the end of August 2020, 151 111 unemployed persons were registered with the Regional Employment Service Centres, 2 241 more than in the previous month. The unemployment rate thus rose from 3.2% in July 2020 to 3.3% in the reference month. Compared with the same month of the previous year, unemployment rose by 51,559 people (+51.8%).

Youth unemployment (15 - to 24-year-olds) rose by 2,446 people (+13.7%) to 20,341. Compared with the same month of the previous year, this corresponds to an increase of 7,199 people (+54.8%).

A total of 237 215 job seekers were registered, 1 453 more than in the previous month. Compared to the same period of the previous year, this number increased by 67,366 persons (+39.7%).

In June 2020 488 312 people were affected by short-time work, 402 578 fewer people (-45,2%) than in the previous month. The number of affected farms decreased by 57 583 units (-52,4%) to 52 405. The unusual work hours declined by 29 558 322 (-51,0%) on 28 374 970 hours. In the corresponding period of the previous year (June 2019), 59 550 hours of downtime had been registered, which had been spread over 1 507 persons in 84 establishments.