Unemployment rate in Israel fell in the first half of October 2021 to 7.1%

New data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics reveals that the unemployment rate in Israel, by broad definition, fell in the first half of October to 7.1%, compared with 7.9% in the second half of September, when the Tishrei holidays were held. In the last three months since mid-July, the extended unemployment rate has stuck between 7.6% and 8.1%.
At the beginning of November, there were "only" another 12,000 unemployment benefit recipients aged 45 and over, with the payment being suspended for about 100,000 in recent days. By the beginning of 2022, the payment of unemployment benefits due to the corona crisis will end completely. This seems to be the main reason for the relatively sharp decline in the number of unemployed in Israel, who realized that they would be left without any income if they did not return to the labor market immediately.
The data show that the number of unemployed has fallen the most in one month in the last time - by 30,000, and amounted to 305.4 thousand unemployed in the first half of October, compared to 335.4 thousand unemployed in the second half of September. The Prime Minister's Office predicted last summer that by the end of 2021 the number of unemployed in Israel will reach a quarter of a million, and this number is now probably within reach, if the joining of the unemployed into the labor market continues.
According to the narrow definition, which determined the level of unemployment benefits for those staying in the IDF during the crisis, the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% in the first half of October, compared with 6.5% in the second half of September. 7.5%, and this happened for the first time in June this year.The number of unemployed as a result of the Corona crisis amounted to 235.6 thousand in the first half of October compared to 269.9 thousand in the second half of September. To only 5.1%, compared to 5.7% in the second half of September. On the eve of the corona crisis, this rate was about 3.5%, one of the lowest in the world. September.
In total, there were 6,587,700 Israelis aged 15 and over in Israel in the middle of October, but only 64.2% were included in the labor force (worked or were looking for work), which is 4.230 million women and men.