While the Bank of Israel predicts an unemployment rate of 7.6% by the end of 2009, the National Insurance Institute today published a more pessimistic outlook - an unemployment rate of 7.5% will be reached as early as the end of June.
Only yesterday National Insurance Institute director general Esther Dominici told "Globes" that she expected an unemployment rate of 7.5% at the end of September. However, figures for February released today paint a bleaker future.
The National Insurance Institute reports 19,800 new claims for unemployment benefits in February, 59% more than in February 2008, and a record number of claims for month compared with recent years. 55,399 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed in November 2008 and February 2009, an increase of 54% over the corresponding period a year earlier.
Under an agreement between the National Insurance Institute and the Ministry of Finance, the program for easing the criteria for obtaining unemployment benefits will come into effect when the unemployment rate hits 7.5%.
In a letter to Minister of Finance Ronnie Bar-On yesterday, Minister of Social Services Isaac Herzog pleaded to implement this plan through legislation in order to avoid delaying the measure. Today, Herzog said, "Dealing with the surge in unemployment is one of the main challenges that the country must deal with immediately."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 2, 2009
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