According to the data, the average number of monthly claims stood at 75,832. In addition, there was an 18% decline in the number of new claims compared to the previous year, reaching a monthly average of 14,627.
NII Director Esther Dominissini says the sharp drop in jobless claims is "a clear indication of the recovery and emergence from the crisis, and we hope the improvement in the employment field will continue."
Recovery began in 2009
The past year recorded a continuous drop in jobless claims. Some 85,000 claims were filed with the NII in January, compared to 72,500 filed in December.
The drop in the number of new claims began in the second half 2009 – from 19,000 new claims in June to 13,500 in December 2010.
It should be noted that the new claims were filed by unemployed people who arrived to claim their unemployment allowance for the first time, and that there are cases in which those people received the allowance for one month only before returning to the labor market.
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