The number of unemployed in Israel dropped in November 2021 yo 292.2 thousand: 6.7%

The number of unemployed dropped to 292.2 thousand - still almost double the number on the eve of the corona crisis, at the beginning of 2020, which amounted to only about 160,000 unemployed.
New data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first half of November the number of unemployed decreased, by broad definition, compared with the second half of October, by about 16.4 thousand. This is a particularly high rate of return to work - from 308.6 thousand in the second half of October to 292.2 thousand in the first half of November. The rate decreased from 7.3% for the first time to less than 7% - only 6.7%.
Meanwhile, the employment rate (excluding temporarily absent from work for Corona-related reasons) reached 61.8% in the first half of November, compared with 59.6% in the second half of October. Including those absent temporarily for reasons related to Corona - the employment rate reached 62.1%.
It should be noted that the CBS clarifies that the measurement of the half-months was less accurate than the monthly survey, so last month the monthly figure was 7%, while the half-figures were 7.1% and 7.3%. The corona plague that caused a severe employment crisis.
In the definition used at the height of the corona crisis to determine whether to pay unemployment benefits (which ceased when unemployment fell by less than 7.5%), in the first half of November there were only 223.6 thousand unemployed, which is 5.2%, compared to 249 thousand, which is 6.0%, in the second half Of the month of October.
In fact, this figure is deducted from the 68,600 people who have stopped working because of dismissals or closure of their jobs since March 2020 - who are considered non-employed and therefore should not be included in the unemployment rate, but due to the Corona crisis it was decided to include them in the number and wide unemployment rate. By narrow definition, as mentioned, the unemployment rate in the first half of November was 5.2%.
The basic unemployment rate in Israel (excluding people who stopped working due to dismissal or closure of their jobs since March 2020, and without those who were temporarily absent due to the corona crisis) stood at 4.7% in mid-November, which is 202.6 thousand unemployed, compared to 5.6%, which is 232.4 thousand in the second half Of October - a very significant decrease of almost 30 thousand unemployed.
In the first half of November in Israel, there were 6,597,800 workers who could work according to the international definition, who are aged 15 and over, of whom 4,300,300 men and women were in the labor force (worked or were looking for work), which is 65.2%. This is a relatively low rate compared to other countries, due to the low rate of work among ultra-Orthodox men and mainly Arab women. For reasons related to the corona crisis in the first half of November there were only another 0.5% unemployed - 20,900 women and men in total.
Only less than ten thousand Israelis aged 45 and over, who were unemployed for a long time during the Corona crisis and therefore have earned the right to receive long-term unemployment benefits until now, still receive unemployment benefit payments in December. Their number will decrease to close to zero at the beginning of 2022.