Statistics: 361,000 unemployed Palestinians in 2016

The Palestinian Central Bureau for Statistics (PCPS) said on Sunday that there were 361,000 unemployed Palestinian workers in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2016.

“Unemployment in Palestine increased during the last decade from 21.7 per cent in 2007 to 26.9 per cent in 2016,” a report issued by the PCPS to mark International Workers’ Day revealed.

According to the statistic, the unemployment rate in the occupied West Bank increased from 17.9 per cent in 2007 to 18.2 per cent in 2016.

Meanwhile, it increased in the Gaza Strip from 29.7 per cent in 2007 to 41.7 per cent in 2016, noting that “the gap in the unemployment rate increased for females and males in recent years”.

The unemployment rate among men fell from 22.3 per cent in 2007 to 22.2 per cent in 2016, while it increased among females from 19.1 per cent in 2007 to 44.7 per cent in 2016.

“The number of unemployed persons in Palestine reached 361,000 in 2016,” the report said, noting that this includes 154,000 in the occupied West Bank and 207,000 in the Gaza Strip.

According to the statistic, the “participation of men in labour force is about four times higher than the participation of women.”

Based on a 2010 study, the PCPS report said that the “average of the daily wage in the private sector in Palestine decreased from about 81 shekels [$24] in 2007 to about 70 shekels [$19] in 2016.”

It noted that it decreased sharply from about 64 shekels ($18) in 2007 to about 46 shekels ($13) in 2016 in the Gaza Strip, while in the West Bank it decreased from about 86 shekels ($24) to about 82 shekels ($24) during the same period.