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.
TheLFB-Forex.com Trade Desk Thoughts: In April, unemployment in Switzerland rose to 3.4%, as expected. In unadjusted terms, the Swiss unemployment rose to 3.5% in April, from 3.4% in the period before. According to the release source, there were 136,709 unemployed persons in April. Previously the unemployment rate had remained stable for a longer period, near 2.5%.
TheLFB-Forex.com Trade Team notes, “The release shows that the Swiss labor market started heading higher, even though it had looked somehow resilient until now in the face of the global credit crunch. The Swiss economy is expected to contract by around 2-3% in 2009”.
Forex Technical Reaction: The swissy declined 30 pips during the overnight session. The pair was unaffected by the news release.