NEUCHATEL (AFX) - Switzerland's working population rose by 1.7 pct year-on-year in the third quarter to 3.996 mln, mainly driven by a 1.5 pct rise in the rise in the service sector to 2.598 mln, but the outlook has darkened, said Switzerland's federal statistics office. "Indicators point to a severe employment slowdown in the short term, both in tertiary and secondary sector," it said. The vacant position index lost 23.7 pct to 182.2 in the third quarter, with the IT, banking and insurance sub-indices being the worst affected. The Swissair crisis will only show up in fourth quarter figures, it said. A third of Swiss businesses, or 32.7 pct, said they are still looking for qualified workers, against 37.3 pct in the second quarter. It was foreign workers who benefited from the third quarter's employment rise, up 6.5 pct year-on-year to 1.052 mln, while the number of working Swiss nationals remained unchanged at 2.944 mln. The number of working women rose by 2.2 pct to 1.695 mln, while working men rose 1.2 pct to 2.301 mln.