BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss unemployment rate fell from 3.3 to 3.2 percent in April, compared to March, although it was marginally higher, 0.9 percent, than in April 2013. The jobless rate for Swiss workers was 2.3 percent and for foreigners 6.5 percent in March, the most recent month for calculations.

The federal government’s regular assessment of consumer sentiment, based on a survey of households, shows a stable picture in the first four months of 2014. Domestic households are more optimistic about unemployment, believing it is heading down, but more cautious about the development of the economy – although this remains higher than the historic average – two of four key areas included in the calculation of the consumer sentiment index.

There has been no significant change between April and January, says Bern, in households’ assessment of their financial situation or expectations of savings possibilities over the next 12 months.

Tourism inched up in March

The number of tourists, foreign and Swiss, rose by 0.4 percent in March compared to a year earlier, measured as the number of overnight stays. But the Federal Statistical Office in Neuchatel cautions that figures for March and April (latter not yet released) need to be considered together to see if the situation has remained stable or shifted, with the Easter holiday this year in the middle of April while in 2013 it fell in the last week of March.