Switzerland's unemployment rate sank to 2.7 percent in April of 2018, a level that was last seen in July 2012, the latest figure from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said.

According to the official figure, 119,781 people were registered as without work in Switzerland lat month, 10,632 fewer than the previous month.

This brought the overall unemployment rate down from 2.9 percent in March to 2.7 percent in April, said the secretariat reflecting on a trend over recent years.

Unemployment has also fallen significantly compared to last year, more than economists had expected, reported Swissinfo, the website of the national broadcaster.

Compared with April 2017, 26,546 more people have jobs this year.

The Swiss unemployment rate fell from 3.3 percent in 2016 to 3.2 percent in 2017.

Over the past year there has been a 26.5 percent drop in the number of unemployed aged 15-24 (4,300 fewer), and an 11.9 percent drop in the number of people over 50 looking for work (4,649 fewer).

Still, the secretariat said that about 194,000 people are formally registered as looking for work. Yet there are only about 14,000 jobs listed with regional employment centers.