The unemployment rate fell again in August, dipping 0.1% to 4.6%, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today.
There were 3,932,000 people age 15 plus in the labor force in August, of whom 3,752,000 were employed and 180,000 unemployed. The employment rate in this age bracket fell from 61.4% in July to 61.2% in August.
The number of those with full-time employment fell 0.3%, compared with July (during the week in which the survey was conducted), while the number of those with part-time employment (less than 35 hours per week) was up 1.7%, compared with July.
In the formula used by the Central Bureau of Statistics (and by all other OECD countries), an employed person is one who worked at some job at least one hour during the past week. Employed persons include, among others, those serving in the IDF (in compulsory service or the permanent army) and people who usually work, but were temporarily absent from work during the week of the survey. An unemployed person is one who did not work at all, and actively searched for work during the four weeks preceding the survey date (non-voluntary unemployed).
The Central Bureau of Statistics calculates the official unemployment rate by dividing the number of unemployed by the number of active participants in the labor force, which equals the number of employed plus the number of unemployed.
According to a broader definition, the unemployment rate includes those actively searching for employment, plus those who have given up looking for employment; are interested in and available for employment, but are not actively participating in the labor force; and those involuntarily working only part-time. Using this definition, the unemployment rate jumps to over 10%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 22, 2016
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