Unemployment Rate In Switzerland Falls to New Low;Swiss Police Gear Up to Deal with World Cup Fans;Performance Art Display In Claraplatz;Record Heatwave Hits Basel

A week ago, a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs confirmed that the Swiss economic miracle of low unemployment continued to decline from a year earlier.  

While neighboring countries and those of Europe in general continue to struggle with high levels of unemployment, especially among the young, The general level of unemployment in Switzerland among those of age and looking for a job is a paltry 3%.  

The largest gains in employment were amongst foreign laborers in Switzerland, with unemployment falling from 6.2 to 5.8% over the 12 months ending May of this year.  For Swiss citizens, during the same period the rate fell from 2.2 to 2.1 percent.

In terms of total joblessness, 46.3% of those without a job are categorized as foreigner by the statistics office.

Geographically speaking, only 1 canton in Switzerland recorded an increase in unemployment.  Obwalden, now has an unemployment rate of 1% up from .9% from the last measurement.

The highest rate of unemployment was recorded in Geneva, followed by Neuchatel.  In both cantons the rate is dropping but its relatively high level is impacted by the concentration of financial firms still recovering from the global economic crisis of a few years ago.

Locally, Basel's unemployment rate now stands at 3.4% where it was at 3.6% a year ago.  

Statistical slicing and dicing aside, the enviable unemployment rate has been lauded globally and continues to attract investment, talent and culture to switzerland

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It's only 2 more days until the 2014 Football World Cup gets under way in Brazil.

And in a heartening twist for the Swiss, the National Team defeated Peru in a friendly match 2-0 a week ago in Lucerne.

Despite the slim chances for a cup win for Switzerland, the Police throughout the nation's cantons have put the word out that excessive celebrations or as euphemistically described "displays of support" will not be tolerated.  

Police in general have promised that checkpoints will be in place to prevent unsafe driving and reduce the honking of celebratory honking of horns.

In addition, there is the vague promise that any Excesses will not be tolerated.  Despite such assurances, the police have also stated in a few cantons that they will exercise restraint and generally allow between 1/2 to 1 hour of post game celebration, depending of course what time the game starts and ends. 

Warnings aside, the Swiss side start their world cup campaign in Brazil on June 15th with a match in Brasilia against Ecuador, ahead of games in Group E against France and Honduras.

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As part of the "performaCity" exhibition now on display throughout Basel The Dutch artist Dries Verhoeven has put his installation titled "ceci nest pas" on display in Claraplatz

The large glass box was installed yesterday and contains a boy sitting with a black balaclava pulled over his head on a pile of ammunition, all the while cleaning a weapon.

In addition to Claraplatz, performaCity also has installations at the Kaserne, which is the headquarters for the Art project. 

Tobias Brenk, of Kaserne Basel explained that the focus of the project was to commission artists to develop city scale artistic work accessible to all its inhabitants.

For the Dutch artist of the glass box in claraplatz, this specific installation was an opportunity to encourage active discussions about the challenges faced by the Basel community in the future.

Unfortunately for the volunteer performers inside the boxes, the timing could not have been worse, just as the installation opened the temperatures in Basel climbed into the high 30s forcing the producers to improvise an air-conditioning system.  

The exhibition was previously in display in Strasbourg, Ruhr, Poitiers, Utrecht and Krems on the Danube and will be presented in Lausanne after Basel. The art display will remain in claraplatz until June 15

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Add another record to the weather records experienced in Basel.  SRF Meteo announced that Last Sunday was one of the warmest in history since record keeping began...over 138 years ago. 

The previous record for this weekend was 25.7 degrees smashed by the recorded temperature of 32.6 degrees as recorded by weather stations in Binningen.

This of course has Baselers leaping lemming-like into the nearest body of water they can find, often the Rhein river - where the number of swimmers for this early in the summer season also set a record.  

For those uncomfortable with braving the currents of the river, many of the public pools offered a cool respite.  Queues at the main baths often reached 30 minutes by mid day sunday.  

A new pool in Riehen opened this weekend just in time for the heat and saw 2700 visitors.  The pool is notable for its use of chlorine and chemical free sanitation filters which should make bathing and swimming more comfortable on the skin and eyes.  Manager Roger Wyden noted that despite the throng, the grand opening went without a hitch despite having to scramble for extra shade umbrellas to make visitors comfortable.