The Employment Service announced today (Monday) that Eilat is the city where the rate of job seekers was highest in January, With over 40 percent. The information was shared by the service as part of the publication of the cities with a population of more than 40,000, which recorded the highest unemployment rates during the month of January.
Remember, the whole of January was under the third closure which started on 27.12 and ended on 7.2. In second place on the list was Beitar Illit, with 30.9 percent unemployment, followed by the cities of Umm al-Fahm, Nazareth, Tiberias and Acre with rates of 29.8 percent, 29.6 percent, 27.8 percent and 27.8 percent, respectively.
According to the employment service, “the ultra-Orthodox and Arab cities are at the top of the list.” 12 of the 15 cities with the highest rate of job seekers are ultra-Orthodox or Arab or have a high concentration of one of the groups.
According to Dr. Gal Zohar, director of the research and policy department at the Employment Service, “the fact that the tourism, trade and services industries were closed in December explains the high rate of job seekers that appeared in Arab cities, Eilat and Tiberias in December.”
Demonstration of business owners in Tel Aviv (Photo: Avshalom Shashoni)He added that “on the other hand, in the ultra-Orthodox cities we saw a high increase in the number of job seekers from December to January, in view of the fact that in January additional restrictions were imposed on the Israeli economy.” “In view of the closure of the educational institutions that required parental supervision.”
Employment Service CEO Rami Graur summed up the report in an optimistic tone, saying that “with the opening of commerce, hotels and the education system, the rate of job seekers in them will fall significantly in the coming weeks.”