🇨🇭 Part of the [Swiss Public Data MCP Portfolio](https://github.com/malkreide)

💼 SECO Labor Market MCP Server

🌐 English | [Deutsch](README.de.md)

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Swiss labor market data from SECO (Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft) and AMSTAT via opendata.swiss.

<p align="center"> <img src="assets/demo.png" alt="Demo: Claude queries youth unemployment via seco-labor-mcp tool call" width="720"> </p>

Overview

This server connects AI models to Swiss labor market statistics — unemployment rates, job seekers, open positions, youth unemployment, and occupational breakdowns — all without requiring an API key.

Primary audiences:

• 🏫 Schulamt / Education planning — youth unemployment, vocational guidance data
• 📊 Research & analysis — labor market trends, cantonal comparisons
• 🤖 AI agents — automated labor market monitoring and reporting

Anchor query: "Welche Berufsgruppen haben im Kanton Zürich die höchste Jugendarbeitslosigkeit, und welche Lehrberufe unterliegen der Stellenmeldepflicht?" → More use cases by audience →

Data Sources (Phase 1 — No Auth Required)

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  seco-labor-mcp                     │
│                                                     │
│  ┌─────────────┐    ┌──────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  FastMCP    │    │      9 MCP Tools         │   │
│  │  Server     │◄──►│  seco_search_datasets    │   │
│  │  (stdio /   │    │  seco_get_dataset        │   │
│  │   SSE)      │    │  seco_get_unemployment_* │   │
│  └─────────────┘    │  seco_get_youth_*        │   │
│         │           │  seco_get_job_seekers    │   │
│         ▼           │  seco_get_open_positions │   │
│  ┌─────────────┐    │  seco_get_monthly_url    │   │
│  │  httpx      │    │  seco_list_cantons       │   │
│  │  async      │    └──────────────────────────┘   │
│  └──────┬──────┘                                   │
└─────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────┘
          │
          ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
  │  opendata.swiss CKAN API          │
  │  https://opendata.swiss/api/3/    │
  │  action/package_search            │
  │  action/package_show              │
  └───────────┬───────────────────────┘
              │
              ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
  │  SECO Data Resources              │
  │  CSV / XLSX / PDF Downloads       │
  │  (monthly labor market data)      │
  └───────────────────────────────────┘

Tools

Installation

Claude Desktop (stdio)

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "seco-labor": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["seco-labor-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cloud / SSE

pip install seco-labor-mcp
MCP_TRANSPORT=sse PORT=8000 seco-labor-mcp

The SSE server binds to `127.0.0.1` (loopback) by default to prevent NeighborJack on shared networks. For container deployments where you actually need to accept traffic from outside the container, set HOST=0.0.0.0 explicitly — ideally in your Dockerfile / orchestrator config, and only behind an upstream proxy or firewall:

HOST=0.0.0.0 MCP_TRANSPORT=sse PORT=8000 seco-labor-mcp   # container only

Development

git clone https://github.com/malkreide/seco-labor-mcp.git
cd seco-labor-mcp
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -m "not live" -v

Usage Examples

Search for youth unemployment data

Tool: seco_search_datasets
Input: { "query": "Jugendarbeitslosigkeit Alter", "limit": 5 }

Get cantonal unemployment for Zürich

Tool: seco_get_unemployment_overview
Input: { "canton": "ZH", "response_format": "markdown" }

Get monthly report URL

Tool: seco_get_monthly_report_url
Input: { "year": 2026, "month": 2, "language": "de" }

Key Concepts

Arbeitslose vs. Stellensuchende

Eselsbrücke: Arbeitslose ⊂ Stellensuchende — Arbeitslose sind eine Teilmenge.

Youth Unemployment Seasonality

• July/August: Sharp increase (school leavers without placements)
• September/October: Decline (apprenticeship starts)
• The residual that remains after the autumn decline signals structural need for bridge programs (Brückenangebote)

Stellenmeldepflicht (since 2020)

Occupations with ≥5% unemployment rate must be reported to the RAV before posting publicly. The list changes annually. This is directly relevant for vocational counseling — these professions have highest availability for Swiss job seekers.

Portfolio Synergies

Known Limitations

• amstat.arbeit.swiss has no public REST API (JavaScript SPA) → workaround via CKAN
• Occupational/sectoral detail requires CSV download from SECO resources
• Monthly press report URL patterns may vary for older reports
• Cantonal sub-municipal data not available at this level

Phase 2 roadmap:

• Automatic CSV caching with 24h TTL
• Direct XLSX parsing for cantonal breakdowns
• Integration with zh-education-mcp for Schulamt-specific correlations

Data License

SECO data published on opendata.swiss is under Creative Commons CCZero (public domain). Source: Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft (SECO) — seco.admin.ch

🛡️ Safety & Limits

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

Security

See SECURITY.md for the security posture and how to report a vulnerability.

License

Released under the MIT License — Copyright © 2026 Hayal Oezkan.

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.malkreide/seco-labor-mcp -->

<!-- BEGIN GENERATED: install -->

Installation

Run via uv's uvx — no clone or manual install needed. Add to your MCP client config (mcpServers for Claude Desktop, Cursor and Windsurf; use a top-level servers key for VS Code in .vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "seco-labor-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "seco-labor-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

<!-- END GENERATED: install -->