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.
Gloomy outlook for the Swiss labour market continues
In June 2025, the labour market experts at the RAVs expected a continued rise in registered unemployment (seasonally adjusted) and a slight decline in employment (seasonally adjusted) in the next three months – against the backdrop of a still broadly stable labour market. The overall Swiss Labour Market Barometer stood at 97.2 points in June, which is still 1.9 percentage points above its lowest level recorded in April 2025.
In June 2025 the short-term forecasts for registered unemployment and employment (both seasonally adjusted) were closer together than they have been for the last two months. However, the outlook for employment (at 96.7 points) was worse than the outlook for registered unemployment (97.7 points) in June.
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).
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-Wallonia, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
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