Measuring Swiss employment growth: a measurement-error approach

Abstract

The two main employment statistics from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office often show different dynamics on a quarter-by-quarter basis. Applying optimal signal-extraction techniques, this paper constructs a new measure of Swiss employment growth that provides a unified picture of historical employment dynamics. The new measure exhibits higher persistence and stronger co-movement with unemployment than when the underlying employment series are considered separately.

Keywords: Employment, Signal extraction, State-space model, Dynamic-factor model, Switzerland

JEL Classification: E24, E32