Labor market Unemployment continues to rise at the end of the year
The situation on the Swiss labor market continues to deteriorate. The number of unemployed people continued to rise in December. The average unemployment rate also rose significantly over 2025 as a whole.
09.01.2026, 09:01
09.01.2026, 09:13
SDA
At the end of December, a total of 147,275 people were registered as unemployed in the regional employment centers (RAV) across Switzerland, as reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) on Friday. This was 8415 more than in November and 16,982 more than at the end of 2024.
Against this backdrop, the unemployment rate rose to 3.1% in December after 2.9% in the previous month. Adjusted for seasonal effects, however, the rate remained at 3.0%.
The trend of slightly rising unemployment figures observed since 2023 continued last year, Seco added. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate gradually increased from 2.7% in January to the 3% mark at the end of the year.
On an annual average, the unemployment rate climbed by 0.4 percentage points to 2.8 percent. An average of 133,712 people were also registered as unemployed. That was 21,149 more than in 2024.
More people looking for a job
The number of jobseekers also continued to rise. In December, a total of 231,624 jobseekers were registered with the RAV, 5,740 more than in November. At the same time, however, the number of vacancies at the RAVs also rose. They increased by 3720 or 10 percent to 35,940.
Meanwhile, the situation regarding short-time work has worsened. The data published with a delay at the end of September shows an increase in the number of people affected by short-time working by a quarter to 10,785.
The short-time working figures come at a time of great uncertainty in trade with the USA. At the beginning of August, the Trump administration imposed a tariff of 39% on the import of many Swiss goods. This came as a shock, especially for export-oriented industries. An additional tariff of 15 percent has been in force since mid-November.
