Coronavirus: explosion of unemployment rate in Israel

Text by: Guilhem Delteil Follow

Israel has a much lower human toll than other countries when faced with the coronavirus. The Covid-19 is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 36 people so far in the country. But Israel, on the other hand, pays a high economic price. In just one month, the unemployment rate increased by 20 points.

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From our correspondent in Jerusalem,

Before the implementation of movement restriction and containment measures, Israel boasted a low unemployment rate: 4%, one point lower than the average for OECD countries, the Organization for Cooperation and economic development. But in just a few weeks, Israel has seen this rate soar: it is now over 24% of the working population. This represents an increase of 550%. And for the first time in its history, the country saw the number of job seekers surpass the million mark.

Unemployment affects all sectors: El Al, the main airline , has placed more than 80% of its employees on technical unemployment. Castro, the largest clothing store chain, also stopped paying 6,000 workers. Local businesses and the liberal professions are also hit hard. And even the ministries have placed part of their civil servants on technical unemployment.

The vast majority of new registrants should find a job once the crisis is over: placed on unpaid leave, they have not been formally dismissed. On the other hand, 20% of these new job seekers have been dismissed and will not have any work to resume when the containment measures are lifted. The government announced this week a 20 billion euro plan to support the economy during this health crisis.

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• Israel
• Coronavirus
• Employment and Work
• Containment