The number of full-time employees fell in the first quarter, while the number of part-time employees rose sharply.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.2% of the civilian labor force in the first quarter of 2010 from 7.3% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. The civilian labor force totaled 3.03 million people in the first quarter, of whom 2.82 million had jobs and 218,000 did not.
1.48 million men had jobs in the first quarter and 1.33 million women. However, the proportion of full-time employees (at least 35 hours a week) fell by 1.6% compared with the preceding quarter; 30,000 few people had full-time jobs. In contrast, the number of part-time employees rose by 8.1%, or 61,000 persons.
The number of involuntary part-time employees fell to 113,000 in the first quarter, 1.9% fewer than in the preceding quarter, amounting to 4% of the total workforce.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 27, 2010
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