Swiss employment takes big hit as Covid-19 batters economy

The Covid-19 pandemic caused a significant rise in unemployment in Switzerland last year. The massive use of short-time work measures helped mitigate the impact on businesses and workers, the authorities say. The annual unemployment rate rose to 3.1% last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) reported on Friday. The 2019 figure was 2.3%. “An average unemployment rate of only 3.1% for 2020 is to be welcomed under the circumstances,” declared Boris Zürcher, head of Seco’s Labour Directorate, at a press conference in Bern. In spring, Seco had predicted unemployment to rise to 4%. The number of job seekers topped 260,000 at the end of December 2020, which represents a 34.9% increase on 2019 – the highest level since February 1997. The sharp rise in unemployment from mid-March slowed over summer but picked up again towards the end of the year, Seco said. Short-term working Hotel and catering, transport, manufacturing and tourism...