The unemployment rate in Switzerland increased to 2.8% from 2.7% in November, the highest in 19 months. Fading demands from the home and abroad paired with instability in the global credit market has certainly dragged on growth outlook, and conditions may only get worse as the Swiss National Bank expects economic activity to remain subdued throughout 2009. Deteriorating fundamentals may lead the central bank to ease policy further throughout the first half of the year.