Seasonally adjusted joblessness increased by 1,771 or 1.5 percent in October to 120,936. However, this was a small enough rise to leave the unemployment rate unchanged at 2.6 percent, in line with the market consensus and matching its highest mark since September 2021. Unadjusted, the rate was also steady at 2.5 percent and still 0.5 percentage points above its level a year ago.

Looking ahead, vacancies declined 1.6 percent on the month to 36,159, an unadjusted drop of 24.9 percent from October 2023 after a 22.4 percent fall in September.

Today's report is more pessimistic about the state of the labour market than its September counterpart and points to sluggish demand for new hires, consistent with a subdued domestic economy. The data leave the Swiss RPI at minus 28 and the RPI-P at minus 20, both gauges showing overall economic activity running behind market expectations and adding to pressure on the SNB to cut its policy rate again in December.

Forecasters see no change in the seasonally adjusted jobless rate at 2.6 percent in October.

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.