IMF Staff Country Reports

Switzerland has had a mixed macroeconomic performance over the past quarter century. After stagnating in the 1990s, the Swiss economy has finally shown some spark. Registered unemployment has declined sharply during the upswing and was below 2 percent in early 2001 amidst reports of increasing shortages of skilled labor. The surge in oil prices pushed headline inflation slightly above 1½ percent in 2000, up from 0.8 percent in 1999. The country’s longstanding current account surplus reached almost 13 percent of gross domestic product in 2000.