Jobseekers claiming unemployment stood at 490,855 in April - Decreased by 14.4% compared to March

The Employment Service report, the first part of which is published today, shows that the number of jobseekers claiming unemployment stood at 490,855 in April, and decreased by 14.4% compared to March.
The cumulative number of all jobseekers also decreased by 13.6%. Regarding this figure, it should be noted that most of the decrease was recorded among jobseekers who were on unpaid leave.
The number of job seekers registered is the lowest since the second closure. There was also a significant improvement in the number of job seekers in relation to each vacancy: in April the best figure was recorded since the outbreak of the Corona crisis, with 4.9 job seekers competing for each vacancy. Who used to break out of the crisis.
Most of the decline was among jobseekers on unpaid leave: while the number of jobseekers on unpaid leave fell by 43% between the end of February and the end of April, the number of non-employed and left without an employer at the end fell by only 6% over the same period.
Rami Graur, CEO of the Employment Service: "Most of those returning to the labor force have been in the IDF, but it should be noted that many remain who think they are on unpaid leave, but do not yet know that they have actually been fired."
"We are focused on helping populations that remain unemployed even after June 2021, with the end of the automated safety net. The employment service runs its full programs, holds thousands of names each month, conducts hundreds of workshops, consultations, trainings, trainings and job fairs. The Histadrut held a huge virtual fair in which tens of thousands enjoyed workshops, lectures and live chat with employment service employees, "Grauer added.
The downward trend is also reflected in the total number of jobseekers in March, which dropped from 739,235 to 638,650, compared with a total of 5% of all jobseekers who were registered at the beginning of April, from 612,177 who were registered at the beginning of the month to -580,464 at the end.
In April, the number of job seekers, income support plaintiffs, fell by 5% compared to the number recorded in March, in fact the lowest figure since entering the second closure in September 2020.
The employment service is concerned about the figure and claims that it shows once again how people with low work skills have more difficulty returning to the work force compared to those with higher skills.
"Beyond that," the employment service warns, "we should not be fooled by the decline in the number of income support claimants. In July 2021, at the end of the unemployment benefit entitlement period, many may find it difficult to return to work and consequently degenerate into social benefits as income support. .
The Employment Service emphasizes that the declining trend in the number of jobseekers rests mainly on jobseekers who have been on unpaid leave, whose rates of return to work were significantly higher than those who are not on sick leave.
According to data from the Employment Service, at the end of April the number of job seekers staying in the Knesset from the unemployment benefit population was about half the number recorded at the end of February, about three weeks after leaving the third quarantine.
In fact, the number of jobseekers who were on unpaid leave decreased by 43% in the two months between the beginning of March and the beginning of May, compared to a decrease of only 6% in the number of non-sick jobseekers registered during the same period.