Let’s get to work!

The 2008 census results for workforce participation rate have been released, the results are not promising for the nation's capital.

By AVIEL YELINEK
workforce participation rate (photo credit: Courtesy)
workforce participation rate
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The results for the census conducted in 2008 have recently been released, offering us deeper insight into our society and workforce.
In 2008, Jerusalem had a workforce of 240,000. This number includes both working people and unemployed people seeking employment, aged 15 and up.
This figure translates into a workforce participation rate of 50 percent, which is lower than the national average (60%), the average in Tel Aviv (70%), and the average in Haifa (60%).
Jerusalem’s low workforce participation rate can be attributed to low rates among the haredi and Arab segments of the population.
In Tel Aviv, the number of workforce participants was 232,000 – only slightly lower than in Jerusalem, despite the fact that Tel Aviv’s population is almost half the size of Jerusalem’s.
Generally speaking, the workforce participation rate is higher for men than for women. In Jerusalem it was 58% for men (compared to the national average of 65%) and 42% for women (compared to the national average of 53%).
Workforce participation rates vary greatly among Jerusalem’s neighborhoods. Har Homa boasted the highest rate (79%). Relatively high rates of participation in the workforce were also found in Ramat Sharett and Ramat Danya (71%), city center and Nahlaot (69%), Katamon (67%) and East Talpiot (66%).
Participation rates that were closer to the national average were found in Kiryat Hayovel (63%), Kiryat Menahem and Ir Ganim (62%), Gilo (61%), and Baka (58%).
At the opposite end, the lowest workforce participation rates were found in the Mea She’arim area, and Beit Yisrael and Bukharan neighborhoods (20%).
Other neighborhoods with workforce participation rates below the city average were Sanhedria and Shikun Chabad (29%), Mekor Baruch, Mahaneh Yehuda, Zichron Moshe (33%), Ramat Shlomo (44%), Neveh Ya’acov (45%), Bayit Vagan (47%) and Har Nof (48%).