About 12% of those registering with the Israel Employment Service in April were fired as opposed to those sent on unpaid leave. This was double the figure in March when 6.3% of those registering with the Israel Employment Service were laid off. In April 177,400 people registered as unemployed including both those on unpaid leave and fired, sharply down from 850,000 in March.
At the end of April, there were 1.15 million people unemployed in Israel - 27.6% of the workforce. At the end of February, before the coronavirus crisis hit, the unemployment rate had been just 3.9%.
Unemployment is highest among young people with 47.8% of those aged 15-34 without jobs.
In the final days of April, with the lockdown beginning to loosen, 17,986 people on unpaid leave, notified the Israel Employment Service that they were again working or about to end their unpaid leave.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 10, 2020
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