Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

Food and energy are among the industries dominated by a small number of players that have effective oligopolies, and the lack of competition allows them to keep prices high, Oxfam says Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella Food companies making big profits as inflation has surged should face windfall taxes to help cut global inequality, anti-poverty group Oxfam said on Monday as the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) gets underway in the Swiss mountain...

Kelleher spent 30 years at US bank Morgan Stanley before joining the UBS board in April 2022. Keystone/gaetan Bally UBS chairman Colm Kelleher says Switzerland’s largest bank needs to expand its wealth management business in the US to compete with the big Wall Street banks. “Wealthy Americans like to be with a bank like UBS,” Kelleher told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in an interview. “UBS has a phenomenal reputation in wealth management.” Kelleher was elected UBS...

The agreement comes as the complexities in global pharmaceutical supply chains increase, making them more burdensome to monitor. Keystone / Martin Ruetschi US and Swiss authorities have agreed to share inspection documents on pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in a move to improve efficiency and safety in the drug supply chain. According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, the Good Manufacturing Practice Mutual Recognition Agreement signed on Thursday...

On 9 January 2023, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) published the latest figures for the Swiss labor market in 2022 showing unemployment at its lowest rate for 20 years. Photo by Anamul Rezwan on Pexels.com2022 saw the development of a labour market increasingly characterised by a shortage of workers and an unemployment rate of 2.1%, said SECO. The unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points from 2.6% in 2021 to its lowest in 20 years....

By international standards, unemployment payments are generous in Switzerland – typically 70% of salary. But they come with strict requirements for recipients to show they are engaging in actions deemed necessary to find work. With record numbers of unfilled jobs, pressure is now being put on some to change career, reported RTS. Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.comAccording to one report, there are more than 100,000 unfilled jobs in Switzerland. At the same time...

Apartment buildings and other accommodation in St Moritz, canton Graubünden. The canton registered the biggest rent increases last year (6.7%). Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller Rents in Switzerland rose by an average of 2.8% last year, the largest annual increase in 14 years. Switzerland is unique in Europe with the majority of residents living in rented accommodation. The 2022 increase is the biggest since the annual rent survey began in 2009, according to the Homegate...

The escalating cost of food and other goods is putting an increasing strain on many societies. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Global stability is most threatened by rising food and energy costs, climate-related disasters and the risk of further military conflict, according to 1,200 experts canvassed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF Global Risks Report 2023 reflects the concerns of political and business leaders around the world. The soaring cost of living has...

Switzerland’s Tête de Moine (Monk’s Head) cheese broke all-time sales and production records last year, due particularly to its “conviviality”, according to the sector’s president. Tête de Moine sold 3,300 tons sold worldwide in 2022, up 3.7% on the previous year, despite a difficult economic climate marked by the strong Swiss franc and war in Ukraine. The main export markets are Germany and France, sector president Jacques Gygax said on Monday. Gygax put this...

The rate of unemployment in Switzerland fell to 2.2% last year, the lowest rate in 20 years, according to official statistics. At the same time, trade unions complained that wages were too low for many workers and demanded more pay. On Monday, the State Secretariat for Economic affairs (Seco) said the jobless rate fell from 3% in 2021 to 2.2% last year. This corresponds to 99,577 people registered as out of work on average each month. The number of jobless...

© Ocskay Mark | Dreamstime.com A sharp rise in rent in December 2022 (+1.1%) left the average Swiss rent 4.3% higher than at the beginning of 2022, according to the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index, published on 4 January 2023 by SMG Swiss Marketplace Group. This annual jump of 4.3% exceeds the annual CPI increase of 2.8% announced this week. Increases varied significantly by region. The highest rent rise was recorded in Ticino (+8.4%). The jump in Greater Zurich...