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Israel, characterized by a stable labor market and low unemployment, has seen how the interruption of activity due to the coronavirus has increased unemployment from 3.4% in February to the current 27.4%, an unprecedented figure in the country.
The restrictions imposed since the beginning of March to contain Covid-19, which registers 202 deaths and almost 15,500 infections in the country, minimized economic activity and caused a million unemployed in less than two months, according to data from the Unemployment Office.
7% of the unemployed were permanently fired, and 88% were temporarily out of work, with unpaid leave, so they are expected to recover it as the economy returns to normal, although analysts warn of that many could stay in the lurch.
Months of uncertainty
Unlike many European countries, Israel – with high standards of economic development and highlighted by sectors such as its emerging high-tech companies – was able to weather the 2008 crisis without a significant impact on its labor market.
Before the spread of the epidemic, there were some 140,000 unemployed citizens, a historical record of less than 4%, but the health emergency affected their economic dynamism.
With the worst phase of the pandemic over, the government has begun to lift restrictions in a phased manner: many industries, businesses and businesses are working again with strict rules for the prevention of contagion, and as the year progresses, experts predict that Israel recovers relatively from the coup, but not entirely.
It is not clear that everyone can resume their jobs because during the coming months the world economy will be marked “by uncertainty,” researcher Daphna Aviram-Nitzan, from the Israel Institute for Democracy, told Efe, pointing out that many companies and businesses They could end up closing.
It is expected that unemployment in Israel drop around 11.5%, implying that “the number of unemployed stabilizes between 360,000 and 400,000 people,” indicated a recent study by Aviram-Nitzan.
For the expert, it is a bad number, three times higher than before the pandemic, but low enough for the State to have the capacity to manage the problem.
Small and medium-sized companies are most at risk of sinking, alert, and The sectors that will end up most touched will be leisure and culture in addition to tourism, at the expense of the complete lifting of movement restrictions and the return of travelers, still undated.
“Stimulate the economy”
According to Aviram, in a context in which Israel is looking for a strategy to get out of the crisis, “The challenge is to stimulate the economy and companies to bring employees back to work, something that the government should do” to a greater extent.
Last Friday, the Executive approved a package of some 2,100 million euros to support self-employed workers and small companies, who saw their activity reduced to a minimum or even to zero in recent weeks.
Added to this is another aid announced yesterday of more than 1,500 million euros for large companies and commercial chains, with the aim of supporting the return of employees to their jobs.
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