The Ministry of Finance amended last week its growth forecast for 2006. According to the newly amended growth forecast, Israel's economy will grow by 4.1% this year and business product will grow by 5%
The previous forecasts published in early January were 3.9% for GDP growth and 4.9% for business product growth. The 2006 growth forecast is less than the growth experienced in 2005, when GDP rose by 5.2% and business product rose by 6.7%.
Ministry of Finance chief economist Dr. Sarel predicted that unemployment will continue to fall, reaching a monthly average of 8.8% in 2006, compared with 9.1% in 2005. These rates reflect a monthly average of 238,400 unemployed in 2006, down from 250,700 in 2005 and a peak of 279,800 in 2003
