CBS: Unemployment rate in August - 9.8% • According to a previous decision, the figure was supposed to lead to a reduction in unemployment benefits • Drops in construction starts in the Haifa and Judea and Samaria districts
For the first time since the Corona crisis, the unemployment rate is falling below 10%, according to a CBS survey published yesterday, which covers the period from the beginning of the year to the end of August.
Netanyahu on the decisions of the Corona Cabinet
According to CBS data, the rate of unemployed and unemployed in their narrow definition - unemployed and employees in the IDF - amounted to 9.8% each August, constituting 418,000 people.
In a broader definition, which also includes dismissed people who are not looking for work, the unemployment rate stands at 11.2% - 467 thousand people.
However, the reduction in the unemployment rate to a single-digit rate is expected to lead to a 10% reduction in unemployment benefits starting this end of October - both for the laid off and for workers in the IDF.
According to the Ministry of Finance, this is a "symbolic" reduction, the purpose of which is to encourage citizens to return to the labor market.
The decision to reduce unemployment benefits was made before it became known that Israel was preparing for a second full closure, which could lead to an increase in the number of layoffs and the number of workers reluctantly leaving, as a result of job closures, mainly in hospitality, leisure and food. On the block, there was a worsening of the data as the unemployment rate in the narrow definition climbed to 10.4% and in this expansion approached 12%.
However, with the publication of the matter, the Minister of Finance announced that he did not intend to implement this section, according to which unemployment benefits were to be reduced.
It is clear that this is not the situation he intended in the first place.
According to the CBS, the proportion of Israelis aged 15 and over in the labor force is 62.2%, compared with about 2.5 million people who are not in the labor force - with 61.7 thousand of them stopping working due to dismissals or closure of their jobs due to the corona.
Meanwhile, the CBS also published data on construction starts in the second quarter of this year (April-June), which fell by 4.7% compared to the same period last year. Less than 70% of the apartments that began construction will be sold on the free market, with 15,410 construction starts under plan Price per occupant - a jump of 27% compared to 2019.
In the previous quarter, the construction of about 50,000 apartments was completed - a decrease of 5.3% compared to the corresponding period last year.
As of the end of last June, 120.5 thousand apartments were found in the process of active construction.
Tel Aviv is a leader in construction
The districts that experienced the sharpest decline in construction starts - the gap between the past year and 2019-2018 - were Haifa with a drop of 41.7%, Judea and Samaria (39.6%) and Tel Aviv (23.1%).
On the other hand, in the Northern District there was a jump of more than 28%, in the South 16.5%, in the Center 9.6% and in the Jerusalem District the number of construction starts increased by 7.1%.
Respectively, in these areas the largest number of construction starts was recorded as part of the price per occupant.
Divided by locality, Tel Aviv leads with 2,788 construction starts - a decrease of close to 40% compared to the same period last year;
In the capital city of Jerusalem, construction began on about 2,269 apartments - a decrease of more than 37%.