Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

The Swiss economy appears to be on a roll. Pictured here: a worker at the Lantal Textiles rug factory in Melchnau (© Marcel Bieri) - Click to enlarge The Swiss unemployment rate was 2.7% in April – a level last seen in July 2012. Last month, 119,781 people were registered as without work in Switzerland – 10,632 fewer than the previous month. This brought the overall unemployment rate down from 2.9% in March...

Swiss wealth managers are still struggling to attract new assets, according to Deloitte (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Switzerland remains the world’s largest wealth management centre for international assets, but the air is getting thinner at the top and other financial hubs are gaining ground, according to a global report. A total of $1.84 trillion (CHF1.85 billion) of international assets were managed in...

On Wednesday, some 40 trade union members from as far as Australia and Africa protested the Swiss-based commodities giant’s treatment of workers. The demonstration took place on the occasion of Glencore’s annual general assembly in Zug, and included protestors from Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Canada, Australia, as well as other countries, according to a statementexternal link (in French) by Swiss...

Switzerland has the world’s most expensive meat according to a survey compiled by Caterwings in Germany. The survey, which looks at meat prices in 52 countries, ranks Swiss prices at the top across all meat categories. © Marian Mocanu | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge On average, Swiss shoppers pay 142% more than the average across all meat categories. Chicken, the meat with the highest price premium, is 222% more...

Swiss inflation reappeared in February 2018 and has continued. According to the Federal Statistical Office, inflation was 0.2% in April. Since the beginning of 2018, prices have risen 0.9%. © Björn Wylezich | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge Jan-Egbert Sturm of the KOF Swiss Economic Institute says it shows the Swiss economy is doing well, and that inflation is close to what is “normal” in Switzerland. When asked by...

A Starbucks coffee shop in Lucerne, Switzerland (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The Swiss food giant Nestlé is set to pay Starbucks $7.1 billion (CHF7.1 billion) to market the American firm’s products outside Starbucks’ coffee shops. Under the alliance deal, announced on Monday, Starbucks and Nestlé have agreed to work together on marketing strategies and innovation. “This transaction is a significant step for...

- Click to enlarge UBS shareholders approved all the Board of Directors’ proposals at today’s Annual General Meeting in Basel. Shareholders confirmed the re-election of the Chairman and the members of the Board of Directors. They elected Jeremy Anderson and Fred Hu as new members of the Board. They approved the payment of an ordinary dividend of CHF 0.65 per share, an increase compared with the previous year. They...

A May Day rally in the centre of Basel in northwest Switzerland on May 1, 2018 (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Workers and activists have been celebrating May Day in Switzerland with rallies in numerous cities urging their government to address employment issues, such as equal pay. Around 50 rallies and events are planned across Switzerland. On Tuesday morning, 13,000 took part in a demonstration in Zurich...

A worker checks the organic fresh food selection at a Coop supermarket in Wetzikon in 2007 (Keystone) - Click to enlarge One in ten fresh food items sold in Switzerland last year was organic, according to the Federal Office for Agriculture. The market share of organic products rose from 4.6% in 2007 to 9% in 2017, while the share of fresh organic food sold in Switzerland rose from just under 6% to 11.5% over...

Still an issue in 2018: Women calling for equal pay on women’s day in Geneva (© KEYSTONE / MARTIAL TREZZINI) The workers’ union umbrella group Travail Suisse is calling for the introduction of a blacklist to shame Swiss companies that fail to pay women and men equally. This is one of 28 recommendations which feature in a position paper published by Travail Suisse external linkon Monday, on the eve of International...