The average monthly wage in Israel increased last November by 9.5% on an annual basis (Al Jazeera)
The average monthly wage in Israel increased last November by 9.5% compared to the corresponding month of 2022, reaching a record high of 12,969 shekels ($3,535), according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
According to what Globes newspaper reported from official data, the average real wage (a measure of purchasing power that takes inflation into account) increased 6% during the same month on an annual basis.
Jobs decline
The number of jobs decreased by 4.9% last November, compared to the same month in 2022, and it also decreased by 2.5% compared to the previous October, according to the data.
Many employees were laid off or placed on unpaid leave due to the war and the slowdown in business activity, according to the newspaper, which said that this may have caused an artificial rise in the average wage.
The newspaper pointed to a similar phenomenon that occurred during the “Covid-19” pandemic, when the average wage jumped as a result of the dismissal of low-wage workers in the first place.
In the technology industry, the jump in average wages was greater, as it increased by 10.4% last November, compared to the corresponding month of 2022, to exceed 29 thousand shekels ($7,906), according to the newspaper.
However, the number of jobs in the high-tech industry fell by 1%, reflecting a real rise in employee wages, and last November, technology sector jobs represented 10.4% of the total jobs in the Israeli economy.
warning
In a related context, at the end of last month, the Israeli Hapoalim Bank warned investors and policy makers against being overly optimistic after data it saw as positive, noting that a large part of the economic growth was due to the decline in the base number for comparison recorded last October after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. And the outbreak of war in Gaza, suggesting that a full recovery may be longer-lasting than initially expected, the Jerusalem Post reported.
In a note, Bank Hapoalim expected that the period of recovery in production levels would extend to more than a year, and the report attributes the recent rise of the shekel - in part - to the continued rise in Wall Street indices and rumors surrounding possible progress in negotiations on a prisoner release deal.
This bank maintains a cautious stance regarding inflation in Israel, expecting it to rise by 2.8% over the next year, and at the same time excludes that interest rates will decline in the near term due to concerns about stability and market conditions.
Source: Al Jazeera + Israeli press