Capital Market

As expected, due to the extension of the third closure by another 10 days so far, employers have increased their employees' time off. Data reported this morning (Sunday) by the Employment Service show that 5,560 new jobseekers were registered over the weekend. Since the beginning of the third closure, a total of 150,159 new job seekers have been registered, of whom 89,000 have been registered since the closure was tightened. The data also show that 121,291 jobseekers were taken on unpaid leave and their rate is about 80.8% of all new unemployed, while 28,868 of them were fired or resigned

The Ministry of Health has been discussing in recent days the possibility of imposing severe restrictions on the coming Purim, in order to prevent a renewed increase in morbidity, which has been declining significantly in recent days. Meanwhile, many people took advantage of the trade opening yesterday to buy costumes for Purim - and toy stores have long queues ahead of the holiday, which will begin on Thursday evening. At this stage, the Ministry of Health has not yet formulated a decision regarding restrictions on Purim, with one option being to impose a night curfew to prevent...

The situation of the labor market in January was more difficult than in October, when the second closure ended - both in the rate of job seekers and in the length of the period in which many of them are out of work. This emerges from an analysis of the employment service. 127.7 thousand new job seekers were registered in January - an increase of 56.4% compared to December 2020. On the other hand, only 18.2 thousand people reported returning to work - the lowest number of returnees since the beginning of the crisis. At the beginning of January, 727.4 thousand jobseekers were registered and...

The consumer price index rose by 0.3% in February 2021, indicating that after a long period of Corona, prices began to rise, with inflation already estimated to increase by approximately 201%. . Significant price decreases were recorded in fresh vegetables - 1.9% and in footwear - 1.7%. Since the beginning of the year, the consumer price index has risen by 0.2% and in the last 12 months (February 2021 compared to February 2020), the consumer price index remains unchanged, after a negative index throughout 2020. According to the CBS Housing Price Index, which is published together with the...

The mortgage market continues to boil: Bank of Israel data show that the volume of new mortgages taken out in February was NIS 7.3 billion, a jump of 19% compared to February last year, and of 11% compared to the average in the last 12 months. Similar to January, the average mortgage amount reached NIS 800,000 in February. The banking system notes that the strong data are due to high demand, for fear of continued price increases, and the lack of a plan to address the supply in the housing market on the horizon. In addition, economic uncertainty diminished with the gradual return to...

The Bank of Israel today publishes the annual report for 2020, which includes an extensive review of the effects of the corona on the economy. The bottom line, the report notes, is that there are considerable differences between sectors in the economy and society. Weaknesses of the socio-economic safety net and gaps between sectors. According to the report, the approval of the state budget for 2021 is essential to set priorities and implement plans to accelerate growth, especially in the areas of human capital and investment in public transport, communications, energy and environmental...

Returning to the routine, also on the economic side: The consumer confidence index in March rose to 7% - compared to 12% - in the previous month, and similar to the value measured in February 2020, on the eve of the corona crisis, then the index stood at 6%. This is what the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes today (Tuesday). The balance sheet relating to the individuals' intentions for large purchases in the coming year compared to the previous year stands at 24%, similar to February; The balance sheet has been improving since October, when it stood at 45%. The balance sheet relating...

The Central Bureau of Statistics today publishes an amazing statistic regarding the number of vacancies in the economy. According to the CBS, the number of job vacancies was about 112.5 thousand jobs in March, which is the highest estimate observed since the beginning of the survey in 2009. The highest estimate so far was 106.5 in May 2017. The vacancy rate for March is 4.43% compared to the average vacancy rate of 3.59% in 2019 and 2.47% in 2020. There has been an increase in the number of job vacancies in all sectors of the economy surveyed compared to the 2020 average, and the most...

The price of the economic corona: The government debt has reached almost a trillion shekels. In 2020, government debt increased by about 20% and stood at NIS 984 billion each, compared to NIS 823 billion last year. The government deficit more than tripled during 2020 and has reached unprecedented proportions since the 1980s. Add to this the dramatic drop in tax revenues recorded at the beginning of the crisis and the ongoing budget, it will be possible to understand the magnitude of the event that took place in the offices of the Accountant General Unit, responsible for providing funding...

Small and medium-sized businesses employ 65% ​​of the labor force in the Arab sector - but the financing products in the economy are not tailored to them. This situation will be tried to change by a new fund owned by the state and a public association, and it will provide 250 loans amounting to NIS 15 million. The fund was established by the Koret Funds Association and the Small Business Agency in the Ministry of Economy, and will provide a solution for registered, existing and new businesses that have not received a loan through the state-guaranteed fund in the past year, as well as for...