Despite 31.7 thousand new job seekers: the number of job seekers decreased by 10.5% in February

The downward trend in the number of job seekers in the employment bureaus continued in February as well. Their number decreased by 10.5% to 245.5 thousand people, according to data published today (Monday) by the employment service. Unlike January, in February the number of job seekers in Eilat also decreased by 12%.

This is the sharpest drop in the last three months, after a drop of 7.9% in January and 10.3% in December. The employment service estimates that if there is no security escalation soon, the number of job seekers is expected to continue to decrease.

However, in view of the reality of the war and its economic effects, the number of new registrants remained higher than the period before the war, and stood at 31.7 thousand in February.

The number of unemployment benefit claimants decreased by 12.5% ​​from 211.7 thousand in January to 185.2 thousand in February. The number of income security allowance claimants also decreased from 56.4 thousand in January to 54.7 thousand in February, a decrease of 3%, compared to an increase of 4.5% from December to January.

In 29 of the 62 manual dispatchers, there were decreases of more than 5% in the number of job seekers in February. Only three trades saw marginal increases in the number of job applicants – doctors, certified nurses and midwives and tradesmen in the field of databases and networks. The most noticeable decrease in the number of job applicants was recorded among shop assistants, 52.64%, workers engaged in providing information to customers and gathering information, 24.31%, and nursing care workers and assistants in the field of health services, 22.56%.

Rami Graor, CEO of the Employment Service: “The trends of the last four months show the resilience of the Israeli labor market and its high ability to overcome crises. We saw this in the Corona crisis, and we also witnessed it in the war of iron swords. However, the number of job seekers is still high, and despite the recovery trend, it is still a long way from the resilience that preceded the outbreak of the war Therefore, I call on the approximately 245,500 jobseekers who have not yet returned to the labor force to use the employment service workers, who will help you return to the labor force and strengthen your skills and abilities in preparation for returning to the labor force.”