More Palestinian Arabs working for Israelis

The latest labor statistics are out from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Among the findings for the 4th quarter of 2010:

• The labor market increased by 41,000 jobs in the West Bank and 13,000 jobs in Gaza.
• In the West Bank, the number of Arab workers in Israel or Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria increased by 4000, from 75,000 to 79,000.
• The number of Arab workers in settlements themselves went up from 7000 to 9000, a whopping 28% increase. Almost certainly this is largely because the construction freeze ended in late September.
• 11.5% of all employed West Bank workers are working for Israelis.
• While the average daily wage in the West Bank is 86.8 NIS, the average daily wage for those working in Israel or in Jewish settlements is nearly double that, at 160.5 NIS (an increase of nearly 4% in the quarter.)
• Gaza's unemployment rate went down from 40.5% to 37.4%. The West Bank unemployment rate decreased from 20.1% to 16.9%.

Statistics are slightly skewed compared to Western standards because the PCBS counts unemployment for everyone 15 years old and above, as opposed to 18 years old. Not surprisingly, the unemployment rate is highest for the 15-19 age group.