Economy added over 100,000 new jobs in 2007

The public sector actually added employees during the year

The number of jobs in Israel grew by 4.2% in 2007, paralleling the drop in unemployment and rise in real wages, according to the Bank of Israel's Annual Report. 117,000 new jobs were created in 2007.

The Bank of Israel adds that, belying government declarations over the years to reduce the size of the public sector, the number of public sector jobs actually grew by 3.8%, or 29,500 employees, last year. Business sector jobs increased by 4.3%. The number of foreign workers also increased, again belying government promises to the contrary. However, thanks to the substantial growth in the business sector employment, the number of foreign workers as a proportion of total jobs fell by a tenth of a percentage point, compared with 2006.

For the first time since, 2002, the number of work-hours per week increased, demonstrated by the fact that labor input in both the business and public sectors was higher than the number of employees.

An especially encouraging figure is the 9.6% drop in the proportion of employees forced to work part-time because of the negative trend of the increase in the supply of part-time jobs in recent years. In 2007, both the number of part-time and full-time jobs increased by 4.5%.

The Bank of Israel said that implementation of the mandatory pensions agreement reached by the Manufacturers Association of Israel and Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) would boost labor costs.