Despite concerns by many economists over the health of the Israeli economy, the May jobs report showed that demand for workers increased 6.8% last month. By the end of May, there were 66,400 open positions in the overall economy, 4,200 more than there were at the beginning of the month.
With that, said the Central Bureau of Statistics, which compiles the statistics, at least some of the growth was seasonally related, with jobs at places like summer camps that would disappear after the summer. The biggest increase in demand was in the restaurant and service sector, with around 5,800 open positions on a daily average during the month.
However, there were plenty of jobs for engineers as well – 2,484 on average for each day of the month. About 1,600 positions are open for technicians as well. Demand for construction workers – bricklayers, painters, and others – also remained high, with 2,356 open positions.
There was a small falloff in the number of available positions in banking and real estate, the CBS said.
It should be noted that the CBS compiles its statistics from the positions that are listed in the country's unemployment centers, to be offered as job positions to individuals receiving unemployment benefits. It does not take into account ads in the newspapers, positions offered by job agencies, on-line sites that offer jobs, etc. Experts believe that the ratio of open positions to the labor force in the “private” job market that is not listed with the government office is roughly the same as that listed by the CBS – meaning that roughly 6% more jobs were available in May at all levels of the economy.