Unemployment in Israel doubled last month

Tel Aviv in lockdown / Photo: Eyal Izhar, Globes

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In the second half of September the unemployment rate rose to 17.1% nearly double the 9.7% from the first half of the month due to the lockdown, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

The huge jump in the number of employees placed on unpaid leave in Israel during the second lockdown saw unemployment jump in the second half of September, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. In the second half of September the unemployment rate (those fired and on unpaid leave) was 17.1% nearly double the 9.7% from the first half of the month. When those employees who were fired at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis are added who are not actively looking for jobs then unemployment was 19.1% of the workforce at the end of September, or 767,400 jobless, compared with 11.5% or 471,100 jobless in the first half of the month.

In the second half of September 507,000 people in Israel were on unpaid leave compared with 158,500 in the first half of the month. The only ray of light was that the number of people defined as long-term unemployment fell during September from 232,000 (5.8%) to 165,000 (4.2%).

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 19, 2020