Unemployment rates in Switzerland have dropped, new figures show.

A report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said the total stood at four per cent last month, down from March's 4.2 per cent and below the predicted 4.1 per cent.

Some 223,804 people looking for work were registered as such in April - 7,693 fewer than the previous month, suggesting a continuing stabilisation of the European nation's labor market, which has historically low levels of unemployment together with a highly-skilled workforce.

In addition, vacancy numbers rose - reaching 17,294 - up 329 places.

"We recently changed our forecast, expecting now an average jobless rate of 4.1 per cent for 2010 compared with our previous forecast of 4.8 per cent," Credit Suisse analyst Fabian Heller told Swiss Info.

CIA statistics put the country's labor force at 4.28 million, with nearly three-quarters employed in the services sector, 23.9 per cent in industry and 3.8 per cent in agriculture.

Posted by Alex Donnell