RAMALLAH, February 13, 2018 (WAFA) – Unemployment rate was 27.4% in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2017, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said on Tuesday, with unemployment in Gaza Strip reaching 43.6% compared with 18.1% in the West Bank.
Unemployment rate for males in Palestine was 22.3% compared with 47.4% for females.
The highest unemployment rate in 2017 was 44.6% among youth aged 20-24 years. For years of schooling, the highest unemployment rate among females with 13 years of schooling and more was 53.8%.
The PCBS said the number of individuals participating in the labor force in Palestine was 1,374,600 in 2017 of which 870,000 where in the West Bank and 504,600 in Gaza Strip.
The labor force participation rate in the West Bank was 45.6% and 45.2% in Gaza Strip, the gap in the participation rate between males and females in Palestine still very big where it reached 71.2% for males compared with 19.0% for females.
The PCBS said the number of the employment in the local market increased between 2016 and 2017 from 861,200 in 2016 to 863,500 in 2017. The number of employed individuals in the West Bank increased by 7,500 employed, while the number of employed individuals in Gaza Strip decreased by 5,200 employed.
The services sector was the biggest employer in the local market with 32.7% in the West Bank and 53.3% in Gaza Strip.
The public sector employed 21.3% of those in employment; 36.5% in Gaza Strip and 15.2% in the West Bank.
The average daily wage for wage employees in the West Bank was 101.5 Israeli shekels (app. $29) compared with 59.4 shekels (app. $14) in Gaza Strip.
The number of employed in Israel and Israeli settlements was 130,700 in 2017 compared with 116,800 in 2016. Of these; 67,900 had a permit, 43,400 worked without any permit and 19,400 had an Israeli identity card or foreign passport.
The number of employees in the Israeli settlements increased to 22,100 in 2017 from 20,800 in 2016.
The PCBS said 61.6% of employed in Israel and the Israeli settlements worked in the construction sector with an average daily wage of 226.7 shekels (app. $64) in 2017 compared with 218 shekels (app. $62) in 2016.
It said 70.5% of employed individuals are wage employees - 66.9% in the West Bank and 79.5% in Gaza Strip; 18.5% of employed individuals are self- employed - 20.2% in the West Bank and 14.1% in Gaza Strip.
The PCBS said that 38.8% of wage employees in the private sector received less than the minimum monthly wage of 1,450 shekels (app. $412) broken into 17.9% in the West Bank who received an average monthly wage 1,079 shekels (app. $306) and 80.6% in the Gaza Strip whose average monthly wage was 731 shekels (app. $208)/
Regarding child labor, the statistics department said that 3.4% of children aged 10-17 years in Palestine are employed; 4.6% in the West Bank and 1.7% in Gaza Strip.
M.K.
