News Analysis: Israel faces soaring unemployment

Almost one million Israelis have found themselves without a job since the outbreak of the virus in March. Before that, the country had a record-breaking low unemployment rate of less than four percent, according to Xinhua.

After two lockdowns and an intermediate period which saw a very partial recovery, the Israeli economy is struggling to reach pre-pandemic levels of employment. 

The high unemployment level, almost 25%, also includes people on open-ended furloughs.

According to Israel's Employment Service, a large portion of the unemployed are teaching assistants, store salespeople, and workers from the restaurant sector. Almost half of the jobless are under the age of 34 and the majority of them are women, many of whom are forced to stay at home with children who are not going to schools as they remain closed.

Consequently, the pandemic has also led to a drop in the number of job openings.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), "the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be felt" in countries that adopt this model. The numbers may show less unemployment, but in fact, people are working less.

There are sectors, such as tourism and restaurants, which have taken a major blow in Israel. Special attention will be needed in order to take care of the future of these workers, many of which will need to find new occupations, noted the experts.

The political instability and lack of a state budget is harmful and could make Israel even more vulnerable to the economic ramifications of the pandemic.