The labour market loosened further in mid-quarter. Seasonally adjusted joblessness rose 2,201 or 2.1 percent on the month to 108,911. As a result, the unemployment rate edged another tick higher to 2.4 percent, matching its highest mark since December 2021 and 0.1 percentage point above the market consensus. Unadjusted, the number of people out of work fell 1,492 or 1.4 percent to 105,465, leaving the rate unchanged from April but widening its gap with a year ago from 0.3 percentage points to 0.4 percentage [points.

Meantime, seasonally adjusted vacancies continued to decline with a 1,357 or 3.4 percent slide on the month to 38,238. This equated with an unadjusted yearly fall of 22.6 percent, up from 20.5 percent last time.

The May update is surprisingly soft and warns that the Swiss labour market may now be loosening rather more quickly that earlier in the year. As such, today's report probably slightly increases the chances of another cut in the SNB policy rate later this month. The May data also put the Swiss RPI at 4 and the RPI-P at 10. Overall economic activity is running marginally ahead of market forecasts.

The seasonally adjusted rate is expected to be unchanged from April's 2.3 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.