34,600 Palestinians working in Israel without permits
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reports that the unemployment rate in Gaza was 32.5%, and 19.1% in the West Bank.
By YASSER OKBI, THE POST CORRESPONDENTPalestinian greenhouse worker 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
The number of Palestinians from the West Bank working Jewish settlements there and in Israel has increased from ninety-six thousand in the first quarter of the year to 103 thousand in the third quarter.The numbers were released in a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.51,000 of the Palestinian workers employed in Israel had work permits while 34,600 did not have permits, according to the report.The bureau reported that there were 1.161 million people total in the Palestinian workforce: 761 thousand in the West Bank and 400 thousand in the Gaza Strip.The number of unemployed Palestinians hit 275 thousand individuals, 145 thousand in the West Bank and 130 thousand in Gaza. The unemployment rate in Gaza was 32.5% and in the West Bank the rate stood at 19.1%. 43.1% of the unemployed were between 20-24 years old and half of all people with academic degrees were unemployed. The report found that among Palestinian cities Hebron in the West Bank had the highest unemployment rate at 22.3% and Khan Younis was the unemployment leader in Gaza at 35.8%.
