Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics: 148,000 Palestinians Work in Israel

The unemployment rate in the West Bank dropped from 9.5% in June to 9.1% in July

Unemployment in the Palestinian Authority rose 0.2% in July, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics has reported. Unemployment in the Gaza Strip was 18.3% in July, a 0.3% rise compared with June. Unemployment in the West Bank dropped from 9.5% in June to 9.1% in July.

The rate of Palestinians working in Israel and in Jewish settlements rose to 25% of all Palestinian workers in July, up from 22.9% in June. The number of Palestinian workers in Israel was 148,000 in July, compared with 299,000 in the West Bank and 141,000 in the Gaza Strip.

According to Israeli data, 70,000 Palestinians received work permits in Israel before the recently proclaimed measures for increasing the number of Palestinian workers allowed into Israel. The gap between the figures is attributable to the inclusion of Palestinians working in Jewish settlements in the figure relating to Palestinians working in Israel, as well as to workers without permits and measurement errors.

The number of Palestinian salaried workers earning less than NIS 1,640 (the poverty line) was 141,000 - or 37.8% of all salaried workers - in July, compared with 38.9% in June. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics links the drop in the number of salaried workers living below the poverty line to the average NIS 5 rise in the daily wage of workers in Israel, and to the NIS 3.8 rise in the daily wage of workers in the West Bank, despite a NIS 1.4 drop in the daily wage of workers in the Gaza Strip.

Published by Israel's Business Arena August 29, 1999