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Foreign unemployment fall cuts jobless rate Published on: 10 Apr 2015 09:23 CET Facebook Twitter Google+ reddit Switzerland's official jobless rate fell in March to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent in the previous month, driven by a drop in foreign unemployment, according to government figures released on Friday. The decline marks the first time since June 2014 that the rate has fallen in a further indication that the Swiss economy is so far weathering the rise in the value of the franc, which forecasters have said will cut growth this year. The percentage of foreigners registered as out of work tumbled to 6.7 percent from seven percent, while the rate for Swiss citizens remained unchanged at 2.3 percent, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said in its monthly report. The number of unemployed registered in regional job placement offices in March dipped by 4,813 from the previous month to 145,108, Seco said. But the jobless rate last month remained above the 3.3 percent level in March 2014. The rate declined or remained the same in all 26 cantons with the canton of Valais recording the biggest fall, from to 4.6 percent from 5.4 percent. Neuchâtel registered the highest rate (5.7 percent, down from 5.8 percent), just ahead of Geneva (5.6 percent, unchanged). Obwalden had the lowest rate at one percent, down from 1.1 percent. Unemployment in Zurich, Switzerland's largest job market, remained unchanged at 3.6 percent. The impact of the strong franc may not have yet affected the Swiss job market but observers believe that unless the currency weakens, jobs cuts can be expected. In January, the Swiss National Bank abandoned a policy of maintaining a euro floor of 1.20 francs and foreign exchange traders immediately bid up the value of the franc. On Friday, with uncertainty about Greece's finances lingering, the euro was trading at around 1.04 francs, making life difficult for Swiss exporters selling products into the eurozone, the biggest ma

THE SWISS National Bank (SNB) has fixed its currency against the euro at a rate of 1.2 Swiss francs, after its value rose sharply due its status as a safe haven investment amid the troubled eurozone countries.

Manufacturing in Germany is slowing down while economic activities for France is also at a low. Although output has been "increasing modestly", the manufacturing and service sectors are "showing strains." The economic slowdown in Germany would not only affect the country itself, but also the other countries in the eurozone. The United States and Japan has also been briefly mentioned in this article on how they are doing in the economic growth. Things do not seem to be going too well for Japan, and although the U.S seems to be doing well, they cannot "carry the global economy on its own"

This article describes how the events in Paris affected the economic growth. This illustrates how more factors than taxes and employment can make a difference in level of economic activity. A decrease economic activity might cause the government to intervene by reducing the interest rate, creating incentives to increase consumption. A demand-side policy like this could help the economy get back on its course.

Swiss unadjusted unemployment rate slightly increased to 3.3 percent in October of 2015 from 3.2 percent in the previous month and matching market expectations, as the number of jobseekers and unemployed went up. Yet, youth unemployment declined by 3.9 percent from a month earlier.

The latest wealth report shows the distribution and development of wealth in Switzerland. According to the report, income and wealth increased in Switzerland in the past 10 years. Since 1998 the average gross income per household increased by 7%. From 2009 to 2011 the monthly average was at 9'565 Swiss Francs.

Euro has been facing slow recovery from the suffering economy in Europe however it is hard for the euro to get out of deflation because of emerging markets that are making it harder for recovery. The recovery has been led by Germany which makes up 30% of euro-zone GDP however their exports have fallen in August compared to that of July.In France an issue in oil prices has acted the same as tax cuts for consumers and businesses.The euro still looks like it will be facing very low inflation in the coming years.

Due to the bad weather in France, the quality of wheat used to make bread have been affected leading to an increase in the price of flour. Other factors that lead to the increase in prices include the Ukrainian crisis and the Russian ban on wheat exports. Because flour and wheat have many uses, the demand for these products will hardly be affected which makes them inelastic. Supply on the other hand will decrease because of the bad harvest faced by farmers.

Some key words "like determinants of price" of price which we learned in that week could have been used to explain why season affected the price of flour. With demand steadily increasing and supply diminishing Fonge could've talked about PED which she brought up but never used the term. In her comment she said wheat and flour being inelastic are not affected by any change in price so wheat has a low PED.