While the U.S. and Europe suffer from ongoing unemployment, more jobs were available for Israelis in 2013, and workers made more money. Data released Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics showed that there were 3.117 million positions available in the Israeli labor market in January 2013, a rise of 0.6% on an annual basis from the figure a year earlier. That increase followed a 0.4% annualized rise in employment during the period between August and October 2012, as compared to a year earlier.
The average salary in Israel during the period between October 2012 and January 2013 was NIS 9,159 ($2,530) monthly, including all segments and groups of full-time employees. That was 1% higher annualized than the salary level a year earlier, and it followed a 4% annualized increase during the period August-October 2012. In constant prices, however, salaries were down 0.9% between January 2012 and January 2013.
Currently, the highest paid workers in Israel are the crews searching for oil and gas, both offshore and onshore. Those workers earned an average of NIS 24.514 per month. Following them were workers for water company Mekorot and the Israel Electric Company, who earned an average of NIS 16,682 per month. Finance industry workers earned an average of NIS 15,143 per month, while high-tech workers made NIS 12,616 on average. The lowest paid workers were in agriculture (NIS 5,993 per month) and the food service and hospitality industry (NIS 4,397 per month).