Report: Unemployment rises to 26.6% in Palestine

Middle East Monitor  /  September 11, 2020

The unemployment rate in Palestine has increased to 26.6 per cent during the second quarter of 2020, compared to 25 per cent in the first quarter, due to the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a report yesterday that the number of workers in the Palestinian market had decreased during the second quarter from one million to 800,000, adding that the workforce in the occupied West Bank dropped ten per cent, while in the Gaza Strip there was a 17 per cent drop in workers.

The unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip reached 49 per cent with over 200,000 unemployed persons while the unemployment rate in the West Bank reached 14.8 per cent with 118,000 unemployed persons.

According to the report, those working in restaurants, hotels and construction activities were the worst hit by the pandemic.

The report also noted that the number of workers in Israel has decreased from 120,000 in the first quarter of 2020 to 94,000 in the second quarter.

As of Wednesday, the total number of coronavirus infections in Palestine reached 36,200 people.