UN Agency says unemployment in Gaza is "among the highest in the world"

A report issued by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has shown that the unemployment rate in Gaza rose to 45.2% in the second half of 2010, which is among the highest in the world. Concerns about unemployment have been heightened by the ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and the resultant economic crisis. The report added that wages for workers in Gaza continue to deteriorate due to the rising unemployment rate; by the second half of last year, real wages had fallen by 34.5% since the first half of 2006.

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Sami Mashasha, head of media relations at UNRWA said: “The number of people living on less than one dollar a day [the official poverty line] has tripled to 300,000 since the imposition of the blockade.” He laid emphasis on the fact that UNRWA will continue to work on the development of the health and education sectors in the Gaza Strip.