According to the Employment Service, workers in the tourism industry in the city suffered the most severe damage.
The promenade in Eilat, last month
Photography:
Yehuda ben Itach
Against the background of the political and public discourse surrounding the opening of the "tourist islands" in Eilat and the Dead Sea, the Employment Service reported today (Tuesday) that the southern city tops the table of unemployment-stricken localities in Israel in October, with a job demand of 41.2%.
Although the economy is gradually returning to activity after the closure of the Tishrei holiday imposed to combat the eruption of the corona, Eilat is the only city last month with more than 50,000 residents and a rate of job seekers exceeding 40%.
The second city on the list, which is 4.2% below Eilat, is in Beitar Illit, where the rate of job seekers is 37%.
The reliance in the city on the tourism industry, during this period, led to the most significant harm to the workers of the tourism industry, and to the ancillary services in the city indirectly.
33.1% of all job seekers in the city have occupations in the field of sales and services, a figure much higher than the national average, which stands at 25.3% for this occupation.
This reliance of the city's economy on the tourism industry and related services, leads to harm to many families.
Last month, no less than 2,002 families in Eilat registered both spouses as job seekers, a dramatic increase of 26% compared to September and an 85% increase compared to August data, so in 1,081 Eilat families both spouses registered as job seekers in the employment service.
79.8% of all jobseekers in Eilat are from the IDF, a figure significantly higher than the national average, which stands at 67.3%.
Except for Eilat, most of the localities at the top of the localities with the highest rate of job seekers in Israel are ultra-Orthodox or Arab localities.
Nazareth is in third place with 30.5%, Modi'in Illit fourth with 30.4%, followed by Bnei Brak with 29.5%, Umm al-Fahm with 29.2%, Jerusalem with 26.5%, Beit Shemesh with 26.4%, Rahat with 24%, and Bat Yam closes List of ten cities with a job demand rate of 23.6%.