عربي
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
Press Release on the Results of the Labour Force Survey
First Quarter (January- March, 2013) Round
Main Results
The labour force participation rate of persons aged 15 years and above was 43.4%
The number of persons participating in the labour force in Palestine was about 1.134 million in the 1st quarter 2013: about 750 thousand in the West Bank and about 384 thousand in Gaza Strip.
The labour force participation rate in the West Bank was 45.0% and 40.5% in Gaza Strip, the gap in the participation rate between males and females still very big it reached 69.0% for males compared with 17.1% for females.
Labour Force Participation Rate by Sex, Q1-2011- Q1-2013
23.9% the unemployment rate among labour force participants
Using ILO standards, the number of unemployed was about 271 thousand in the 1st quarter 2013: about 152 thousand in the West Bank and about 119 thousand in Gaza Strip.
The unemployment rate in Gaza Strip was 31.0% compared with 20.3% in the West Bank, and the unemployment rate for males in Palestine was 21.2% compared with 35.3% for females.
Unemployment Rate by Region, Q1-2011- Q1-2013
The highest unemployment rate in the 1st quarter 2013 was 41.1% among youth aged 20-24 years. For years of schooling, the unemployment rate among females with 13 years of schooling or more was 46.7%.
The highest unemployment rates in the West Bank governorates was in Hebron with 26.1%. In Gaza Strip, the highest unemployment rate were in Khan Younis and Rafah with 36.4% for each one.
According to the relaxed definition of unemployment in Palestine, the unemployment rate increased from 26.7% in the 4th quarter 2012 to 27.5% in the 1st quarter 2013.
Decreased the number of employment in local market between the 4th quarter 2012 and 1st quarter 2013
The number of employed in the local market decreased from 790 thousand in the 4th quarter 2012 to 768 thousand in the 1st quarter 2013. The number of employed persons in the West Bank decreased by 31 thousand, while the number of employed persons in Gaza Strip increased by 10 thousands.
The services sector was the biggest employer in the local market with 34.4% in the West Bank and 52.5% in Gaza Strip.
The public sector employed 23.6% of those in employment: 39.3% in Gaza Strip and 16.6% in the West Bank.
The average daily wage for waged employees in the West Bank was 88.8 NIS compared with 65.2 NIS in Gaza Strip.
The average number of hours worked by waged employees in the West Bank was 43.1 per week in the 4th quarter 2012 compared with 43.5 in the 1st quarter 2013. The average number of days worked per month increased from 22.0 to 22.2 over the same period. The average number of hours worked per week in Gaza Strip was 35.9 hours per week in the 4th quarter 2012 compared with 36.6 in the 1st quarter 2013, while the average number of days worked per month increased from 23.1to 23.3 days over the same period.
Number of employed in Israel and Israeli settlements about 93 thousand in the 1st quarter 2012
The number of employed persons from the West Bank employed in Israel and Israeli settlements increased from 87 thousand in the 4th quarter 2012 to 93 thousand in the 1st quarter 2013. Of these, 45 thousand had a permit, 30 thousand worked without a permit and 18 thousand employed persons have an Israeli identity card or foreign passport.
The number of employees in Israeli settlements remained at the same level between 4th 2012 and 1st quarter 2013 by 16 thousand workers from West Bank.
61.0% of employed in Israel and Israeli settlements work in the construction sector.
The average daily wage for persons employed in Israel and Israeli settlements increased from 163.4 NIS in the 4th quarter 2012 to 167.6 NIS in the 1st quarter 2013.
The average number of hours worked per week increased from 41.1 in the 4th quarter 2012 to 43.5 in the 1st quarter 2013. The average number of days worked per month decrease from 20.3 in the 4th quarter 2012 to 20.0 in the 1st quarter 2013.
Employment status in the 1st quarter 2013
69.9% of employed persons are waged employees: 67.6% in the West Bank compared with 75.1% in Gaza Strip.
17.0% of employed persons are self- employed; 17.5% in the West Bank and 15.8% in Gaza Strip.
6.9% of employed persons are unpaid family members: 7.4% in the West Bank and 5.8% in Gaza Strip.
6.2% of employed persons are employers: 7.5% in the West Bank and 3.3% in Gaza Strip.
Percentage Distribution of Employed Persons by Employment Status, Q1-2013
Working benefits for waged employees in the private sector
26.7% of waged employees are hired by contract, compared with 52.1% hired without a contract.
21.3% of waged employees contribute to a pension fund; 22.2% have annual paid vacation; 39.4% of wage employees women have paid maternity leave.
32.8% of employed persons in Palestine are affiliated to a workers vocational union: 33.7% of males and 27.9% of females.
2.9% of children aged 10-17 years are employed
2.9% of children aged 10-17 years are employed: 3.8% in the West Bank and 1.5% in Gaza Strip.
43% of wage employees in the private sector receive less than minimum wage in Palestine.
In the West Bank about 30.1% of wage employees in the private sector receive less than the minimum monthly wage. the large number of those who receive less the minimum monthly wage are in the north West Bank about 31,300 person with average monthly wage 1,062 NIS, followed by south West Bank about 17,900 with 1,042 NIS.
In Gaza Strip the percentage of wage employees in the private sector was 71.8% about 63,100 wage employees with average monthly wage 791 NIS.