Labor market Unemployment rate rises above 5 percent mark
The prolonged economic slowdown is having an impact on the labor market. The unemployment rate rose to over 5 percent in the third quarter.
13.11.2025, 08:55
13.11.2025, 08:56
SDA
The unemployment rate according to the International Labor Organization (ILO) stood at 5.1% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the Swiss Labor Force Survey (Sake) published by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday. This was significantly higher than the figure for the second quarter, when only 4.6% was measured.
The ILO unemployment rate is significantly higher than the unemployment rate as defined by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), which only takes into account registered unemployed persons. At the end of October, this stood at 2.9 percent. In the EU, the ILO unemployment rate was 5.9% in the third quarter.
In total, 5.364 million people were employed in Switzerland in the third quarter, which corresponds to an increase of 0.4% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In full-time equivalents, however, the figure fell by 0.1%.
