CBS: Unemployment rate at 20-year low

The number of people with jobs in the second half of 2008 reached 2.771 million as opposed to 2.757 million in the first quarter of the year
 
According to report released last week by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the unemployment rate continued to fall over the course of the second quarter, and reached a quarterly average of 5.9%. The rate is the lowest in two decades.
 
The number of people with jobs in the second half of 2008 reached 2.771 million as opposed to 2.757 million in the first quarter of the year. There was an increase of 3.4% in comparison with the parallel period in 2007.
 
The number of people age 15 and older in the civilian workforce was 2.945 million workers and 174,000 jobless people.
 
Male unemployment was 5.7% in contrast with last quarter’s 5.9% and the female unemployment rate was 6.2% as opposed to the previous quarter’s 6.7%.