Israel’s overall unemployment rate continues to drop as Israel comes out of coronavirus mode. The jobless rate for the first half of May was just 6.7%, compared to 7.9% for April and 9.5% for March.
Unemployment reached as high as 22% last April, during the country’s first coronavirus closure, and averaged 16% for 2020 as a whole. At the end of 2019, before the pandemic, Israel’s unemployment rate was a record-low 3.4%.
There is just one month left for the government’s economic safety net plan, which had offered job seekers payments of up to 70% of their original salary through the end of June. While no final plan has been announced for what benefits will be available come July 1, reports indicate that the Ministry of Finance and the National Insurance Institute are working on a plan that will continue to offer a significant economic cushion for households, but with the addition of variable payment rates depending on a person’s age and marital status.
Many have charged that the current plan essentially promised a paid vacation for unemployed workers, with many choosing to enjoy their freedom as long as they can instead of going back to work. In particular, restaurants and other industries relying on low-skilled labor have struggled to hire enough workers to get back to full capacity, and have argued that continuing such a policy will make it very difficult for them to return to normal.