Israel’s unemployment rate in April registered at 4.9%, but economists caution the drop may have been due to an increase in temporary Passover holiday jobs and the fact that the Unemployment Offices were closed during the holidays.

By Zeev Klein

This past April marked a historic drop in the Israeli unemployment rate, which sunk to 4.9% as compared with 5.3% in March, according to a report from the Central Bureau of Statistics.

April’s unemployment rate reaches historic low [illustrative] – Photo: Rafael Ben-Ari

The report indicated that some 193,000 people were unemployed in April as compared with 208,700 in March.

The unemployment rate among the 25-64 age group stood at 4.4% in April and 4.5% in March. The rate of people in the same age group who are participating in the labour force rose to 80.5% in April as compared with 79.8% in March.

The rate of men in the 25-64 age range who are participating in the labor force was 84.8%, marking no change since March, while among women in the same age range, it rose from 75% in March to 76.3% in April.

However, CBS economists have warned not to read too much into the changes noted in April due, among other things, to a rise in temporary jobs leading up to the Passover holiday and the closure of the Unemployment Office over the holidays, which prevented people from registering for unemployment benefits. Additionally, private employers may have avoided laying off workers over the holidays.

Still, despite the seasonal influences of the Passover holiday in April, the drop in unemployment is noteworthy. Its significance, along with the impact of temporary holiday employment, will be revealed when the May labor force data is released.

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http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=33885