Israel's Broad Unemployment Rate Drops Slightly in August

Israel's broad unemployment rate saw a modest decrease in August, standing at 3.9%, which translates to 179,400 individuals. This represents a 0.5 percentage point drop compared to July, according to data released Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics based on a sample survey.

Concurrently, the number of available job openings also declined in August to 142,949, down from 146,133 in July. The broad unemployment rate includes individuals actively seeking work, those temporarily absent from their jobs due to economic reasons (primarily on unpaid leave), individuals laid off in the past two years who are not currently seeking employment, and discouraged workers.

The Central Bureau of Statistics suggested that the decrease might be partly attributed to the annual 'summer layoffs' phenomenon, particularly in the education sector, where workers are dismissed during the summer months and rehired at the start of the academic year or after the holidays.

The official unemployment rate, defined as the percentage of those actively seeking work and remaining unemployed, fell to 2.9% in August, or 131,000 people. This is a decrease from July's 148,200 unemployed job seekers. The ratio of available jobs to job seekers remained tight, at approximately 1.02 openings per job seeker.

Specific components of the broad unemployment rate also shifted. The number of individuals temporarily absent from work due to economic reasons decreased to 12,800 in August from 13,500 in July. Those laid off in the last two years but not seeking work increased slightly to 23,200 from 22,700. Discouraged workers, defined as those interested in working and who searched in the past year but not in the weeks preceding the survey, numbered 14,000 in August, down from 16,800 in July.