Swiss Unemployment Rate Edges Higher In January

Swiss Unemployment Rate Actual 2.9%, Expected 2.9%, Previous 2.8%

Release Explanation: Measures the percentage of unemployed in the labor market. Economic strength builds from the willingness/confidence of firms to hire, without a strong labor market growth is hard to achieve.

Trade Desk Thoughts: In January, unemployment in Switzerland rose to 2.9%, as expected. In unadjusted terms, the Swiss unemployment jumped to 3.3% in January, from 3.0% in the period before. Previously the unemployment rate had remained stable for a longer period, near 2.5%. The release shows that the Swiss labor market started to head higher even though up until now it had looked somehow resilient, in the face of the global credit crunch. The Swiss economy is expected to contract by around 1% in 2009.

Forex Technical Reaction: The swissy traded flat tonight, testing the high of the previous day of trading.

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