RAMALLAH, February 22, 2011 (WAFA) - The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a press release published Tuesday that the unemployment rate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip reached 23.4% in fourth quarter 2010, according to the International Labor Organization standard.

However, it said, according to the relaxed definition, unemployment reached 29.9% in the fourth quarter, a drop from 33.3% in the previous quarter.

The report said that the number of unemployed persons in the Gaza Strip was more than double that in the West Bank. It said that unemployment rate in the West Bank was 16.9% compared to 37.4% in the Gaza Strip.

The highest unemployment rate was among youth between the age of 15 and 19 years, where it reached 42.5%. Females who have completed 13 years of schooling or above scored an unemployment rate of 31.4%.

It said that labor force participation in the West Bank reached 44.5% in the fourth quarter, while it was 36.5% in the Gaza Strip. Rate of male participants was 67.2% compared to 15.3% for females.

Unemployment rate was highest in Bethlehem in the West Bank and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, said the PCBS.

The services sector had the highest employment figures where it reached 42.2% followed by the public sector, where 24.6% of the employed persons are found.

Average daily wage for hired employees in the West Bank was 86.6 Israeli shekels ($25) and 59.9 shekels ($16) in Gaza Strip.

The report said the number of people from the West Bank working in Israel and Israeli settlements increased from 75,000 in the third quarter to 79,000 in the fourth quarter. It added that 50% of them work in the construction sector, whose daily wages increased from 154.7 NIS in the third quarter to160.5 NIS.

It said that 3.3% of children aged between 10 and17 years, are employed in the Palestinian Territory, distributed to 5.1% in the West Bank and 0.4% in Gaza Strip.

M.N./M.A.