RAMALLAH, April 20, 2011 (WAFA) - Unemployment rate hit 23.7% in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during 2010, Wednesday said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). Unemployment among males was 23.1% and females 26.8%.
Unemployment rate in the West Bank was 17.2%, with 16.6% for males and 19.7% for females, whereas in Gaza Strip unemployment rate reached 37.8%; with 36.2% for males and 47.8% for females.
Unemployment was concentrated among the youth aged 15-24 years, which stood at 38.8%; 36.8% for males and 49.6% for females.
The highest unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip was in Khan Yunis with 44.7%, followed by Deir Al-Balah 39.0%, Rafah 36.4%, and then North Gaza 35.8%. The lowest unemployment rate was in Gaza governorate with 34.5%.
In the West Bank, the highest unemployment rate was in Tulkarm governorate at 22.3%, followed by Hebron 21.4%, Bethlehem 21.2%, and then Qalqiliya 19.8. The lowest unemployment rate was in Tubas 11.8%.
The PCBS results of the labor force survey in 2010 showed that labor force participation rate was 41.1% compared with 41.6% in 2009, divided into 66.8% for males in 2010 and 67.0% in 2009. For females, it was 14.7% in 2010 and 15.5% in 2009.
The results showed that 38.3% of employed persons were working in services and 19.3% in commerce, hotels and restaurants. The main field of employment for females was in the services sector, which stood at about 61.8% of employed women. Agriculture provided job opportunities to about 21.4% of females in the Palestinian Territory.
The PCBS said that 14.2% of employed people from the West Bank worked in Israel and Israeli settlements in 2010 compared with 13.9% in 2009. Gaza Strip workers had no access work in Israel or Israeli settlements since 2006.
A total of 24% of employed people worked in the public sector in the Palestinian Territory in 2010 compared with 25.2% in 2009. The percentage in Gaza Strip was 46.1% in 2010 compared with 48.1% in 2009, while it was 16.2% in 2010 in the West bank compared with 17.0% in 2009.
The nominal daily median net wage of employees who worked in the West Bank was 76.9 Israeli shekels in 2010, while in Gaza Strip it was 46.2 shekels in 2010. Nominal daily median net wage for those working in Israel and Israeli settlements was 150 shekels in 2010.
M.A.
