The labour market was broadly flat in March. Seasonally adjusted joblessness rose just 274 or 0.3 percent on the month to 87,697, a small enough gain to leave the unemployment rate unchanged at 1.9 percent. This was in line with the market consensus and 0.4 percentage points short of its reading just before the arrival of Covid. Unadjusted, the number of people out of work dropped 5,697 or 5.8 percent to 92,755, trimming the rate a further tick to 2.0 percent. That said, this was only 0.4 percentage points short of its level a year ago, down from the 0.5 percentage point gap seen last time.

Moreover, seasonally adjusted vacancies fell again, this time down 481 or 0.9 percent on the month to 54,172. This equated with an unadjusted yearly decline of 20.2 percent after an 18.3 percent decline previously.

Today's update puts the Swiss ECDI at minus 18 and the ECDI-P at minus 19. Both readings show overall economic activity falling somewhat short of market expectations making for downside risk to first quarter GDP.

The seasonally adjusted rate is seen unchanged at just 1.9 percent.

The unemployment rate measures the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labour force. Both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted monthly data are provided.

Like the employment data, unemployment data help to gauge the current state as well as the future direction of the economy. Employment data are categorized by sectors. This sector data can go a long way in helping investors determine in which economic sectors they intend to invest.

By tracking the jobs data, investors can sense the degree of tightness in the job market. If employment is tight it is a good bet that interest rates will rise and bond and stock prices will fall. In contrast, when job growth is slow or negative, then interest rates are likely to decline - boosting up bond and stock prices in the process.