Unemployment Rate in Gaza Strip is Three Times Higher than in the West Bank

(Revised ILO Standards ICLS 19th)
25% was the unemployment rate among labour force participants in Palestine, total labour underutilization stands at 33%.

Using the latest Revised ILO standards ICLS 19th, the number of unemployed was 336,300 in the 1st quarter of 2020, distributed as 211,300 in Gaza Strip and 125,000 in the West Bank. The unemployment rate in Gaza Strip was 46% compared with 14% in the West Bank, while the unemployment rate for males in Palestine was 21% compared with 40% for females.

Total labour underutilization was 483,700 individual including 81,500 discouraged jobseekers and 15,600 in time-related underemployment


A large gap in the labour force participation rate between males and females

About 7 out of 10 males participated in the labour force, compared with about 2 out of 10 females.

Females participation in the labour force was 18% in Gaza Strip compared with 17% in the West Bank.

The number of the employed individuals  in the local market decreased between the 4th  quarter 2019 and the 1st  quarter 2020

The number of the employed individuals in the local market decreased from 906 thousand in the 4th  quarter 2019 to 888 thousand in the 1st  quarter 2020, which decreased in Gaza Strip by 9.4%, while in the West Bank increased by 1.2%, for the same period.

The services and other branches activity (included education and health) was the biggest employer in the local market, where the percentage of employment was more than one third of the employed individuals in the West Bank compared with more than the half in Gaza Strip.

The average weekly hours worked by wage employees in the West Bank was 43.2 hours compared with 36.0 hours in Gaza Strip. And the average number of days worked per month was 22.6 day in the West Bank and 22.1 day Gaza Strip.

The number of employed individuals in Israeli settlements decreased by about 3,000 between the 4th quarter 2019 and the 1st quarter 2020

The number of employed individuals in Israel and Israeli settlements was about 120 thousand in the 1st  quarter 2020, and the largest share of those  who had a permit as it reached 72%, and 19% for who worked without any permit, while the percentage of who had an Israeli identity card or foreign passport was about 9%.

The number of employed individuals in Israeli settlements was about 21 thousand in the 1st quarter 2020 compared with 24 thousand in the 4th quarter 2019.

The construction activity recorded the highest employment rate in Israel and Israeli settlements, which was 63% of the total Palestinian employment in Israel and Israeli settlements.

The average daily wage for the wage employees in Israel and Israeli settlements increased between the 4th quarter 2019 and the 1st quarter 2020 from 255 NIS to 265 NIS respectively.

About 7 out of 10 employed individuals were wage employees

73% of employed individuals were wage employees, 23% were self-employed and employers, while 4% were unpaid family members.
About half of the wage employees in the private sector were hired without any contract.

54% of wage employees in the private sector were hired without any contract, and 30% of wage employees contributed to a pension fund. In contrast, more than half of wage female employees (53%) got a paid maternity leave.

29% of wage employees in the private sector received less than the minimum wage (1,450 NIS) in Palestine

The percentage of wage employees in the private sector who received less than the minimum wage in the West Bank remained at the same level about 9% in the 4th  quarter 2019 and 1stquarter 2020, while the percentage in Gaza Strip increased from 80% to 81% during the same period.

The monthly minimum wage in Gaza Strip was 641 NIS compared with 1,050 NIS in the West Bank.

Child labour Rate in the West Bank was higher than in the Gaza Strip
2% of children aged (10-17 years) were employed (3% in the West Bank and 1% in Gaza Strip).