SNB & CHF

Swiss Labour Force Survey 1th quarter 2017: labour supply First quarter 2017: Employment rate increases by 0.6 percent. Unemployment rate according to ILO is 5.3 percent Neuchâtel, 19.05.2017 (FSO) – The number of employed persons in Switzerland rose by 0.6% between the 1st quarters of 2016 and 2017. During the same period, the unemployment rate as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) remained stable...

Swiss Franc The Euro has fallen by 0.14% to 1.0903 CHF. EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, May 25(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF Pound to Swiss Franc exchange rates have seen a choppy day of trading but almost no net movement whatsoever, with the percentage difference on buying Swiss Franc rates since the opening bell at a paltry 0.01%. Why the quiet market? We are at the back end of the month...

Members of the public visit the Geneva University Hospitals during an open day in its new Gustave Julliard building (Keystone) Switzerland has been rated third in a global ranking of the access to and the quality of healthcare systems – a report that shows large gaps between the best and worst ranked countries.​​​​​​​ The survey, published online on Thursday in the medical journal The Lancetexternal link, looked at...

Some 202,000 passengers pass through Bern's train station during the week - Click to enlarge Bern railway station, Switzerland’s second busiest after Zurich, is set to expand with the creation of a new underground rail station serving regional trains between Bern and Solothurn. A pedestrian access area is also planned. Some 202,000 passengers pass through Bern’s main train station – the second largest in Switzerland –...

The appalling attack in Manchester overnight in which over 22 people have been killed has led to a slight uptick in risk aversion in markets. Investors are cautious after police said they were treating a bombing at a concert in the Manchester Arena as a “terrorist incident”. Asian stocks  gave up gains after the attacks and European indices had a subdued start. Gold rose in the aftermath of the attacks to three week...

 As I so often write, we still talk about 2008 because we aren’t yet done with 2008. It doesn’t seem possible to be stuck in a time warp of such immense proportions, but such are the mistakes of the last decade carrying with them just these kinds of enormous costs. It has been this way from the beginning, even before the beginning as if that was possible. The Great Financial Crisis has no official start date, but we...

India Reverts to its Irrational, Tribal Normal (Part XIII) Over the three years in which Narendra Modi has been in power, his support base has continued to increase. Indian institutions — including the courts and the media — now toe his line. The President, otherwise a ceremonial rubber-stamp post, but the last obstacle keeping Modi from implementing a police state, comes up for re-election by a vote of the legislative...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, May 24(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge GBP/CHF Labour gains ground The Conservatives were in a very strong position following the election announcement. A snap election historically causes the currency in question to weaken, but on this occasion the opposite occurred. A Torie victory is deemed to be positive for the UK economy. Investor confidence grew and...

© Lisavan | Dreamstime.com A recent report classifies 570,000 people in Switzerland as poor. This number represents 7% of the population, and relates to 2015. In 2014, the same percentage was 6.6%. The report, which looks only at income, defines as poor a single person with income less than CHF 2,239 per month or a family of four with income below CHF 3,984 per month. Data from the survey of 7,500 households, around...

Summary: The dollar’s downside momentum faded today, but it has not shown that it has legs. Watch 96.45 in the DXY and $1.3055 in sterling. The US 2-year note yield is low, given expectations for overnight money. The US premium needs to widen. The US dollar’s downside momentum faded today. While one should not read much into it, it could be an early sign that the market has discounted the recent news stream,...