Breaking Update
Labor Rate Stable in February
Israel's February 2026 labor force survey reveals a stable employment rate and a drop in unemployment to 2.7%, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Jerusalem, 24 March, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released the data from the Labor Force Survey for February 2026 (Main Data).
Seasonally adjusted data for February 2026
In February 2026 (compared to January 2026, among those aged 15 and over):
Percentage of the labor force employed – 62.5% (62.7% in the previous month).
Employment rate (percentage of employed people out of the total population) – 60.8% (unchanged compared to the previous month).
Percentage of unemployed in the labor force – 2.7% (3.1% the previous month).
Original data for February 2026
In February 2026 (compared to January 2026, among those aged 15 and over):
Percentage of the labor force – 62.3% (62.5% in the previous month).
Employment rate (percentage of employed people out of the total population) – 60.7% (60.5% in the previous month).
Percentage of unemployed in the labor force – 2.6% (3.2% in the previous month).
Employment rate excluding those temporarily absent from work all week for economic reasons – 57.9% (60.2% in the previous month).
Percentage of those temporarily absent from work all week by selected reasons: economic reasons – 55.5% (9.1% in the previous month), military reserve duty – 7.0% (9.5% in the previous month), other – 0.5% (1.0% in the previous month).
Percentage of men temporarily absent from work all week by selected reasons: economic reasons – 56.0% (15.3% in the previous month), military reserve duty – 13.9% (19.8% in the previous month), other – 0.6% (there were none in the previous month).
Percentage of women temporarily absent from work all week by selected reasons: economic reasons – 55.0% (4.6% in the previous month), military reserve duty – 1.5% (2.1% in the previous month), other – 0.5% (1.3% in the previous month).
