24th October 2016 -IAM
Jean-Louis Richard, Senior Financial Analyst
The Swiss economy continues to overcome the shock experienced by the suppression of the Euro/CHF floor in January 2015. Inflation tends to leave negative territory and to come back to about zero. In an environment characterised by sluggish growth amongst its major trade partners, Switzerland benefited from a growth of +2.5% during the second quarter. This rhythm, superior to estimates, results from the strength of non-financial service sectors, health and public administration. On the other side the manufacturing industry, which was most impacted by the margin squeeze following the rise of the Swiss Franc, contracted slightly again. For the full year growth should be about 1.4% to 1.5%. The total number of employed people has slightly increased in 2016 and the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.3%. If the expected acceleration materialises in 2017, unemployment should start to fall.
