Economy
Most of the canton relies on agriculture. The local breed of brown cattle is renowned. The textile industry used to be of great importance in the canton but has now almost ceased to exist; remnants are concentrated around the capital Schwyz. Located in the same area are many producers of fine furniture. There are a few large hydroelectric power plants in the canton.
Tourism is of importance in a number of regions, most notably in the centre of pilgrimage Einsiedeln. Einsiedeln is also a centre of winter sports. The mountain railways on the Rigi are well known around the country. Freienbach, in the north of the canton, is known for the lowest taxes in Switzerland. This has attracted a number of the rich.
The best known, worldwide product of the canton is the Swiss Army Knife manufactured by Victorinox in Ibach just downhill from the main town of Schwyz.
As of 2010, Schwyz had an unemployment rate of 2.3%. As of 2008, there were 4,723 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 1,789 businesses involved in this sector. 18,661 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 1,937 businesses in this sector. 41,198 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 6,207 businesses in this sector.
In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 53,451. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 2,939, of which 2,795 were in agriculture, 130 were in forestry or lumber production and 14 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 17,505 of which 10,048 or (57.4%) were in manufacturing, 88 or (0.5%) were in mining and 6,959 (39.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 33,007. In the tertiary sector; 8,708 or 26.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2,193 or 6.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 3,376 or 10.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1,382 or 4.2% were in the information industry, 2,294 or 7.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 4,126 or 12.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 1,922 or 5.8% were in education and 4,504 or 13.6% were in health care.
Of the working population, 15.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 56% used a private car.
Read more about this topic: Canton Of Schwyz
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit: but also the other way around. What we experience in dreams, so long as we experience it frequently, is in the end just as much a part of the total economy of our soul as anything we “really” experience: because of it we are richer or poorer, are sensitive to one need more or less, and are eventually guided a little by our dream-habits in broad daylight and even in the most cheerful moments occupying our waking spirit.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)