The number of job seekers is very close to the levels recorded on the eve of the Corona crisis

The number of job seekers is declining, and is very close to the levels recorded on the eve of the Corona crisis. This is according to the Employment Service report for January 2022 published on Tuesday. According to the report, in January the number of jobseekers active in the employment service was 168.8 thousand, very close to 164 thousand registered in February 2020. In fact, this is the lowest number since The outbreak of the crisis.

The data of the Employment Service actually correspond with the Central Bureau of Statistics reports regarding January, according to which in January the unemployment rate fell according to the narrow definition of the Central Bureau of Statistics to 3.7% (157.2 thousand unemployed), compared to 4.1% (177.9 thousand unemployed) in December.

On the eve of the corona crisis in Israel, this rate was 3.6%. However, the extended unemployment rate according to the CBS, which also includes people who stopped working since March 2020 and did not return to look for work (and are therefore not registered with the employment service), was 5.6%. , Which are 244 thousand unemployed.
However, the Employment Service notes that although the number is declining compared to December (of 8,400 jobseekers, a decrease of 4.7%), it is a decrease of less than those recorded in the months before December: 28,900 job seekers were deleted from November to December (decrease of 14% ), And from October to November there was a decrease of 71,700,000 from the number of job seekers (a decrease of 25.7%).
Since leaving the third quarantine, the number of unemployment claimants has decreased from 698,000 to 88,100 in January 2022. On the other hand, since the cessation of unemployment benefit entitlement, there has been a consistent increase in the number of income support claimants, although between December and January there was a decrease of 3.7 thousand. Among unemployment claimants. Moreover, the number of income support claimants in January 2022 is about 20% higher than their number in January 2020.
Data from the Employment Service also show that during January the number of unemployment claimants staying in the Knesset reached its lowest number since the crisis broke out and stood at only 6.8 thousand, although the number and rate are still higher than those that characterized the period before the crisis broke out.
The report also shows that for every vacancy in January, only 1.2 job seekers competed, the lowest rate since 2009: while in January 2021, 11.7 job seekers competed for every vacancy in the economy, in January only 1.2 job seekers competed. This is the best ratio recorded. In Israel since 2009, and also much better than the one recorded on the eve of the crisis, which was 1.7 at the time.
According to CBS data, the number of job vacancies continued to rise during December and stood at 146,003 (compared with 145,994 in November) and the total number of job vacancies is 4.94%. The ratio between the number of job vacancies and the number of job seekers, Labor The paradoxical relationship between the increase in the number of job vacancies and the decline in the number of job seekers ostensibly shows that every person currently in unemployment has more opportunities for work.
The Employment Service report also shows that during January, a total of 29,323 new job seekers were registered, including new registrations. On the other hand, the number of job seekers who completed their eligibility and dropped out of the employment service registration in January was 39,472.
In terms of age distribution of job seekers, although the proportion of young people among active job seekers in January is higher than that which prevailed before the crisis, their proportion is still significantly lower than that which prevailed in most stages of the crisis. It should also be noted that in recent months it has been on the rise, especially in light of the cessation of eligibility for those aged 45 and over, which has affected the age mix of job seekers. Women continue to constitute a majority among job seekers (52.2%), although it is slightly lower than that used on the eve of the crisis (52.7%).
Also in January 2022, the Arab and mixed cities top the list of job-seeking rates, which are significantly higher. On the other hand, there is a significant decrease in the rate of job seekers in the ultra-Orthodox cities, with the ultra-Orthodox city with the highest rate of job seekers being more elite but ranked only 26th. It should also be noted that four of the ten cities that recorded the highest decline rates in the number of job seekers in January were ultra-Orthodox cities, led by Modi'in Illit with a decline of 18.8% and Elad with 14.9%.