Falling unemployment
Photo: Index Open
Unemployment falls to 6.9% in October
Number of unemployed workers stood at 200 thousand people in October. The number represents a continued reduction in unemployment, which reached a record 11% in January 2004
The unemployment rate in October reached 6.9%, 0.1% less than the previous month, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. This puts the number of unemployed in Israel at 200 thousand people.
These statistics represent a continuation of the current trend of shrinking unemployment; the rate stood at 7.9% at the beginning of the year, 8.2% last October, and a record high 11% in January 2004, due to the Intifada which caused serious harm to the Israeli economy. Consistent with the Bureau's announcement this month, unemployment is falling about 0.1% per month.
The Central Bureau of Statistics has stressed that these figures concern the percentage of unemployed in the workforce and are thus highly irregular and volatile. The monthly assessments are based on a sampling of people only a third the size of that of the quarterly analysis and are therefore more susceptible to errors.
