The Central Bureau of Statistics said that the number of workers in Palestine amounted to about 1,133 million workers, with 655 thousand in the West Bank, 285 thousand in the Gaza Strip, and 193 thousand workers in the 1948 territories.

In a press release issued today, Sunday, on the occasion of International Labor Day (May 1), on the labor situation in Palestine in Palestine for the year 2022, the Census indicated that the number of unemployed decreased to 367,000 in 2022, compared to 372,000 in 2021. Unemployment among individuals participating in the labor force in Palestine in 2022 rose to about (24%) compared to about 26% in 2021, as a result of the high participation rate in the labor force in the same year, as it reached about 45% compared to about 43% for 2021.

At the regional level, the unemployment rate decreased for both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, reaching about 13% and 45%, respectively, compared to about 16% and 47% in 2021.

The statistics indicated that the total underutilization of labor decreased from about 34% in 2021 to about 31% (500,000 people) in 2022, and this number includes about 56,000 frustrated job seekers, and about 22,000 time-related underemployment.

Hebron and Jenin governorates have the highest unemployment rate in the West Bank, and Deir al-Balah in Gaza:

The governorates of Hebron and Jenin in the West Bank recorded the highest unemployment rate for the year 2022, at about 17%, followed by the Bethlehem governorate at about 15%, while the lowest unemployment rate in the West Bank was in the Jerusalem governorate at about 3%, while in the Gaza Strip, the Deir al-Balah governorate recorded The unemployment rate was highest at about 55%, followed by Khan Yunis governorate at about 49%, while the lowest unemployment rate was in the North Gaza governorate at about 38%.

More than a million workers and the most employed private sector:

The number of workers in Palestine reached about 1,133 million workers. With 655 thousand in the West Bank, 285 thousand in the Gaza Strip, and 193 thousand workers in Israel and the settlements, of whom about 862 thousand are wage employees in Palestine (449 thousand employees work in the West Bank, 228 thousand employees work in the Gaza Strip, 156 thousand employees work in Israel, and 29 thousand employees in the Israeli colonies).

The statistics showed that about 54% of the total wage employees in Palestine work in the private sector. With 327 thousand paid employees from the West Bank and 140 thousand paid employees from the Gaza Strip, compared to about 24% working in the government sector and about 22% working in Israel and the settlements.

The percentage of wage employees from the West Bank who work in Israel and the settlements is about 29% of the total number of wage employees.

A quarter of wage employees in the private sector work in primary occupations:

The percentage of wage employees who work in primary professions and in the profession of technicians and specialists in the private sector is about 24% of the total wage workers in the Palestinian private sector for each of them; 27% for males compared to 8% for females in primary professions, while the percentage of employees working in the profession of technicians and specialists was about 15% for males compared to 68% for females.

Low real wage rates in the private sector:

The real average daily wage for wage employees in the private sector in 2022 (base year = 2018) was about 93 shekels in Palestine; By 38 shekels in the Gaza Strip and 117 shekels in the West Bank (not including workers in Israel and settlements).

The building and construction activity recorded the highest rates of real daily wages in the private sector at a rate of 135 shekels in the West Bank and 38 shekels in the Gaza Strip, followed by the services activity at 128 shekels in the West Bank and 69 shekels in the Gaza Strip, while the agricultural activity recorded the lowest average real daily wage at 89 shekels. in the West Bank and 22 shekels in the Gaza Strip.

In a related context, the average weekly working hours for wage employees amounted to about 41 working hours. 39 working hours for wage employees in the public sector and 43 working hours in the private sector.

40% of paid employees earn less than the minimum monthly wage:

The number of wage employees in the private sector who earn less than the minimum wage (1,880 NIS) is about 172 thousand wage employees, of whom 56 thousand are in the West Bank (representing about 19% of the total wage employees in the private sector in the West Bank) with an average monthly wage of 1,421 NIS, compared to 116 thousand wage employees in the Gaza Strip (representing about 89% of the total wage employees in the private sector in the Gaza Strip) with an average monthly wage not exceeding 697 NIS.

Less than a third of wage employees in the private sector get their rights:

About 28% of wage employees in the private sector obtain their rights (financing retirement / end-of-service gratuity, in addition to paid annual leave and paid sick leave, and the number of wage employees in the private sector who have a permanent work contract (written for an indefinite period) About 83 thousand wage employees, and about 90 thousand workers in the private sector have a temporary work contract (written for a limited period, verbal agreement), compared to about 294 thousand workers who do not have a work contract, while 46% of women workers get a paid maternity leave .