Swiss unemployment rises to three-month high in August

Data released earlier today showed that Switzerland's unemployment rate rose to three-month high in August. This was the first increase since May and missed expectations for an unchanged reading.

Swiss seasonally-adjusted unemployment increased to a three-month high of 3.4 percent for August from 3.3 percent the previous month. The unadjusted rate also increased to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent, with an increase of 5,875 in the number of unemployed.

The number of job seekers increased 4.8 percent y/y in August with youth unemployment edging higher over the month. More positively, there was a small increase in reported vacancies for the month, while the number of short-time workers also declined.

USD/CHF turned positive after the up-tick in Swiss unemployment rate for the month of August weighed on CHF. The pair managed to recover from lows of 0.9710 on the day and has now moved back into positive territory, trading at 0.9732 at around 09:00 GMT.