Unemployment rate at 20-year low

Central Bureau of Statistics reports consistent drop in unemployment figures since July 2009, reaching 5.7% in May

Reuters | Published: 07.28.11, 08:29

The Israeli economy's unemployment rate fell to 5.7% in May – a 20-year-low, according to figures released Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The drop in the unemployment rate has been consistent since July 2009, when it stood at 7.7%.

Unemployed people are defined as those who did not work a single hour in an examined week, and actively looked for a job during the four previous weeks by registering at the employment bureaus, personally contacting an employer, etc, and could have begun working at the examined week had they been offered a suitable job.

Unemployment low, poverty high

In April, the Bank of Israel released a report showing that two-thirds of Israel's poor live in households with at least one breadwinner.

According to the report, the poverty rate among all people living in households with at least one provider reached 18% in the past two years. This is a very high rate both compared to the past and compared to other developed countries.

According to the figures, the problem is particularly noticeable in recent years among Israel's Arabs. Two-thirds of the poor workers are Arabs, an extremely high rate compared to their percentage in the general population – about one-fifth.

Moreover, the Bank of Israel said, about half of poor Arabs live in households with a full-time provider.