OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, June 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – An Israeli
report published by the official Israeli statistics department said
that the number of unemployed Israelis has reached an unprecedented
276,000.
The
numbers have been increasing ever since the start of the Palestinian
Intifada Al Aqsa which started nearly 20 months ago.
The
report said that an additional 55 thousand Israeli sought employment
during the first quarter of 2002 and that the rate of unemployment
increased during the same period of time nearly 4 per cent in
comparison to the last quarter of 2001, to reach a final 10.6 per
cent.
Israeli
economic sources have indicated that the reason of joblessness is the
continuation of the Al Aqsa Intifada which led to the closure of
hundreds of factories. In addition thousands of employees have
resigned due to the low pay which affects them negatively.
Meanwhile,
the report also said that the unemployment has increased among the
Jews who are coming to settle in Palestine. The rate of unemployed new
settlers reached a rate of 12.1 per cent during the first quarter of
2002, while the rate was only 9.4 per cent during the last quarter of
2001.
The
report also said that the longer the settlers stayed in Israel, the
lower the unemployment rate was between them. For instance, among
those who came in during 1990 and 1991, the unemployment rate was 9.7
per cent and in comparison the rate is 16.6 per cent for the Jews who
came to settle in the year 1998.
