UN agency report shows West Bank economy not flourishing

[Jefferson23]

Despite Netanyahu's statement to U.S. Congress that the Palestinian economy was booming, report reveals that one in four Palestinians in the workforce is unemployed.

Research by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees challenges the picture of a flourishing West Bank economy freed up by a relaxation of Israel's military presence, the agency said on Wednesday.

The report by the agency UNRWA shows that unemployment in the second half of 2010 grew much faster than employment, and average purchasing power continued to decline.

Of six major private sector activities, only two recorded employment gains during the second half of last year. Overall, one in four Palestinians in the workforce was unemployed.

"While there was modest employment growth, such growth was on the wane in 2010 while the number of unemployed accelerated in the second half of the year," said author Salem Ajluni.

in full:http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-agency-report-shows-west-bank-economy-not-flourishing-1.366647

[shira]

1. And of course the PA has zero responsibility for the poor economy....

After tens of billions of dollars in aid the past 2 decades, how has the PA proven to be competent WRT creating jobs?

Answer: They haven't.

So blame Israel.

[King_David]

2. Some people see this as good news ? nt

[Igel]

3. I don't see it as news.

I'm presented with a claim. I can't evaluate it, so I can't understand it; if I can't understand it, I can't make a judgment about what it claims, and see no point in sending the matter off to the emotion centers of my brain. Simply put, there's precious little data, and absolutely no information about the assumptions and methodologies used in producing the data behind the report.

We're given information, of some kind, about 6 private-sector components of the economy. What's the government sector like? What are the other private-sector components like? Is there an informal economy? How's that doing? They've lost 3% of the value of their wages? In what terms? In terms of an exchange rate? Purchasing parity power? The actual number of shekels they receive? And why? Inflation? Unemployment? Taxation? Are those wages from the formal economy? Does this include subsidies and entitlements?

A 7% growth rate is projected for the year? Well, we're 5 months into the year. What's the growth rate for the first 4 months. Gee, dunno.

I don't blame the OP. Like the vast majority of articles that make it into print (dead-tree or electronic) this is meant to provide minimum information with maximum outrage or sympathy.

Yes, I expect the same kind of information when I read a US unemployment survey. Except that when it comes to the US, I tend to know the assumptions and methodologies so they don't have to be explicit.

[Harmony Blue]

4. I decided to read the the article in its entirety

And I looked up the UNRWA report, and everything stated in the article is accurate. The UNRWA report is available as a google doc too. In other words, the information is there for those that are not biased, or let emotions dictate their judgement.