This year, the Bank of Israel expects growth of 3.8 percent, with a significant part of that – about 1 percent – expected as a result of natural gas starting to flow from the Tamar field. Unemployment in Israel has been in a continuing decline for a considerable number of years.
The Central Bureau of Statistics changed its measuring framework in 2012, which makes it difficult for us to compare this year’s data to previous years. Therefore, we look at the data for the 25–64 age group, which is less affected by the change in methodology. In this group, we can see a continued decline.