Swiss labour market slides in last quarter

The labor market in Switzerland shows signs of slowing down: the employment indicator calculated by the economic research center at ETH Zurich (KOF) remains in negative zone and is fixed for the fourth quarter of the year at -3.7 points while three months ago it was at -1.2 points.

The recent upward trend, which had raised hopes of a turnaround, then suffered a setback. The deterioration, said the KOF, is due to the employment prospects significantly less favorable encountered in the banking sector, which records job cuts continuously since 2012. "In the coming months we must expect new renovations."

The KOF, which questioned more than 4500 companies, says that the forecast is not favorable even in the processing industry, but difficulties persist in the retail trade, the hotel industry and the insurance sector, improvements are recorded in construction.

New jobs, according to the research center, "should also be created in the near future in business consulting, information technology, in the social and health sector."