20,000 Palestinians working in settlements, survey finds

Survey finds comparatively high unemployment rate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; rates higher for men than women.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Construction worker in West Bank 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Construction worker in West Bank 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Unemployment in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip remains relatively high, according to a survey published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The survey also showed an increase in the number of Palestinians working in Israel and settlements.
The survey showed that the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip was 27.9 percent compared with 16.8% in the West Bank in the second quarter of 2013.
In both areas, the unemployment rate for women was 33.6% and 17.6% for men, the survey showed.
The public sector employed 22.5% of those in employment: 36.2% in the Gaza Strip and 16.4% in the West Bank.
According to the survey, the average daily wage for employees in the West Bank stood at NIS 88.6 compared with NIS 63.2 in the Gaza Strip.
The survey also found that the number of Palestinians employed in Israel and settlements increased from 93,000 in the first quarter of this year to 96,000 in the second quarter.
Of these, almost half of the Palestinians had a work permit, while 34,000 worked without a permit.
The number of Palestinian workers employed in settlements increased from 16,000 in the first quarter of this year to 20,000 in the second quarter.
Most of the Palestinians employed in Israel and the settlements work in the construction sector, according to the survey.
The survey found that Palestinians working in Israel and the settlements are paid more than twice the salary than what they receive from Palestinian employers.