empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.23%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Heritage sites of national significance The Arsenal, the prehistoric lake shore settlement at Baie d‘Auvernier, Colombier Castle with its museum, Roman villa and fortifications, the Domaine de Vaudijon, the House de maître du Bied and the Manoir Le Pontet (house of Béat Louis de Muralt and Isabelle de Charrière) are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The entire urban village of Colombier and the Areuse region are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. Politics In the 2007 Swiss federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 25.18% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (20.67%), the FDP (16.91%) and the LPS Party (14.86%). In the federal election, a total of 1,786 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 52.5%. Economy , Colombier had an unemployment rate of 5.8%. , there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 270 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 37 businesses in this sector. 1,306 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 164 businesses in this sector. There were 2,423 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce. the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 1,366. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 41, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 258 of which 130 or (50.4%) were in manufacturing and 81 (31.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,067. In the tertiary sector; 224 or 21.0% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 42 or 3.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 69 or 6.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 10 or 0.9% were in the information industry, 13 or 1.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 71 or 6.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 168 or 15.7% were in education and 119 or 11.2% were in health care. , there were 947 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,826 workers who commuted away. The