The official unemployment rate for April 2016 is 4.9%, representing a drop from March when unemployment was 5.3%. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 193,000 people were registered as unemployed in April as compared to 208,700 in March.

A breakdown of the numbers shows that among 25-64-year-olds, unemployment in April was 4.4% and the number of people in this group in the labor force is 80.5%. Those numbers in March were 4.5% and 79.8% respectfully. Among men in this age group, 84.8% are in the workforce as compared to 75% among the women.

Despite the euphoria, CBS officials explain the decline in April may not be indicative of the workforce explaining additional jobs became available ahead of Pesach and in most cases, this was time limited.

In addition, some employees were laid off after Pesach as employers did not wish to give the bad news before yomtov.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)