A total of 1.06 million applications for unemployment assistance from the National Insurance Institute were submitted immediately prior to and during the coronavirus outbreak
Twenty-five percent of Israeli non-profits, on which hundreds of thousands of Israelis depend for daily services in healthcare, welfare, education and more, have ceased operations entirely.
“Having one or two members of a family dismissed from their jobs or put on unpaid leave creates an economic crisis that affects the whole family."
“We haven’t seen a contraction on a yearly basis in the Israeli economy for an awful long time, this is a very rare event.”
Eateries open after nearly three-month closure.
Faced with an economy expected to enter recession, soaring unemployment and no government budget, it is difficult to imagine a harder welcome for Israel Katz.
The central bank on April 6 trimmed its benchmark rate to 0.1% from 0.25%, the first rate cut in five years and matching its all-time low.
The number of unemployment benefit claimants has climbed to almost 939,500, or 22.6% of the workforce.
"Our estimate is that 20% of all the employees who have exited the workforce will not return to their place of work."
People have been seen emptying stores worldwide because of fears sparked by the coronavirus outbreak.
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