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Number of jobless claims down 1.5% in May
Unemployment Service reports number of job seekers totaled 229,800 last month; rise in number of unemployed moderated
Gil Kol
The number of job seekers in the month of May totaled 229,800, according to data collected by the Israeli Employment Service.
This figure constitutes a 1.5% drop in the overall number of jobless claims compared to April, after deducting seasonal effects and one-time events. The original data saw a 4% rise in the number of job seekers compared to the previous month, and a 27% rise compared to the same month last year, when the Employment Service was on a partial strike.
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"The original number of dismissed workers in May totaled 14,500, compared to a monthly average of 18,300 between November 2008 and March 2009."
According to the Employment Service, alongside the drop in the number of job seekers, the rise in the number of unemployed people continues to be moderated, totaling 213,100 - a 1.4% rise compared to April, when the growth rate was 1.7% compared to March.
In March the growth rate was 2.2%, in February – 2.6%, and in January and December – 2.8%.
The overall number of new job seekers, in original data deducting seasonal effects, reached 20,300 in May. Most of them, 71.2%, were dismissed workers.
Employment bureaus recorded 22,400 demands for workers throughout May, compared to 20,800 in the same month last year – a 7.5% rise. In May 2008, the Employment Service workers were on a partial strike and worked only 13 days, compared to 20 working days this May.
May saw a 33.3% rise in the demand for workers compared to April, when there were only 13 working days. These are original figures from which seasonal effects have not been deducted.
Despite the encouraging monthly figures, the Employment Service director-general said that "the first five months of 2009 saw a drop of 6.7% in the demand for workers, which is explained by the slowdown in economic activity."
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said in response to the data, "There is indeed a positive trend in regards to unemployment and growth figures, but it's too early to rejoice. We still have a lot of work to do.
"We, as a government, must continue supporting the small and medium-sized businesses, expanding employment options, reducing dismissals and investing in research and development."
He added that the "Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry will continue using all the means and tools it has, with the leading goal being an addition of new workers."
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