The Swiss Labour Market Barometer is a monthly leading indicator based on a survey of labour market experts from selected employment centres in 22 cantons.
Good labour market outlook in February
In February 2023 the Swiss Labour Market Barometer reached a level of 101.4 percentage points, registering its fourth consecutive improvement.
“For the next three months, the labour market experts at the RAVs expect to see a dip in unemployment (seasonally adjusted) and an increase in employment (seasonally adjusted). Other leading indicators are also pointing to robust employment growth for the first quarter,” says Oliver Schärli, head of the Labour Market/Unemployment Insurance Division at SECO.
Outlook for short-term development of registered unemployment and employment at same level
For the first time in seven months, in February 2023 the forecasts for both the short-term development of registered unemployment (seasonally adjusted) and the short-term development of employment (seasonally adjusted) were clearly in positive territory again, at 101.4 percentage points.
Methodology
The Swiss Labour Market Barometer is a monthly leading indicator based on a survey of labour market experts from selected employment centres in 22 cantons. The survey has been conducted since May 2021 by SECO in collaboration with the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Germany and the European Labour Market Barometer.
While component A of the barometer signals the development of the seasonally adjusted unemployment figures for the next three months, component B forecasts employment trends. The average of the components ‘unemployment’ and ‘employment’ constitutes the total value of the barometer. This indicator thus provides an outlook on the overall development of the labour market. The scale ranges from 90 (very poor development) to 110 (very good development).
European Labour Market Barometer
The European Labour Market Barometer has been conducted since June 2018 together with the public employment offices in participating countries and the IAB. Currently, 18 countries take part in the survey. These include: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Belgium-DG, Belgium-Flanders, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium-Wallonia.
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