RAMALLAH, December 12, 2011 (WAFA) – The unemployment rate for Palestinian refugees reached 27.4%, which is about 5% above the average of the West Bank as a whole, an UNRWA report said Monday.

It said that the number of unemployed refugees grew by nearly 1% in the first half of 2010, to over 50,000, as unemployment in the West Bank declined.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said that “These figures show once more that the refugees continue to bear the brunt of economic hardship in the West Bank, making the need for our emergency services greater than ever.”

The report found that “in the context of 3.7% overall employment growth, refugees lost ground in the public sector, where their employment declined by 2.9% in the sequential period.”

It showed that “the total employment growth of refugees was about 1.5%; well below the overall rate of job growth for non-refugees in the West Bank.”

According to the report, the average nominal daily wage fell by 2.3% for employed refugees in the first half of 2011 relative to the second half of 2010.

It said, “At $25.8, it was 14.4% below that of non-refugees. And with the average number of days worked per month falling by 1.1%, the average nominal monthly wage for refugees declined by 3.4% to $565.4, or nearly 15% below that of non-refugees.”

M.H./M.S.