Update 17:35  Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Several key indicators from Geneva’s cantonal employment office show that the canton’s economy slowed down significantly in the first three months of 2009 compared to last year. Industry, especially banking and hotels, has been particularly hard hit. But the watch industry promises to expand slightly in the second quarter. The cantonal office in May noted that unemployment rose 14.5 percent year on year to April 2009, although that compares to a nation-wide increase of more than 35 percent for the same period. Cantonal authorities hope for a rebound towards the end of the year.

The Swiss Federal Statistics Office (Fre, pdf) released data 16 June indicating a slowdown to 2 percent in the rate of increase of frontaliers, people who cross the border to work in Switzerland, noting this is likely linked to the economic slowdown. The average rate of growth was about 5 percent from 2003-2008, but with 2007 alone up by more than 9 percent.

Most frontaliers work in the Lake Geneva region, almost 70,000 people. One thousand frontaliers have decided to set up business on their own in Switzerland, half of them in the canton of Geneva.

Related: TSR video (Fre)

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