It is interesting to compare the occupational distribution of Palestine Jewry with that of the Jews in the Diaspora, writes The New Judea in commenting on the figures issued by the Statistical Department of the Jewish Agency. The statistics are very incomplete, but the estimate at least show the direction in which things are moving and the kind of development that is taking place.
The most striking item is agriculture. The figure for Palestine is 19 per cent; for world Jewry 3 per cent. The higher percentage of agriculture among Jews in Palestine mainly accounts for their lower share in industry, workshops and buildings (25 per cent in Palestine as compared with 36 per cent for world Jewry), and in trade, insurance and transport (16 per cent in Palestine as against 39 per cent in world Jewry).
But the combination of categories is somewhat misleading, The New Judea comments. A detailed classification would have revealed that in the more productive activities, such as transport and industrial work, the share of Palestine Jewry by far exceeds that of Jewry in the Diaspora. As for public services and liberal professions, the figure given is 15 per cent for Palestine as against 8 per cent for Diaspora; for offices, finance and miscellaneous, the estimate is 25 per cent for Palestine as against 14 per cent for Diaspora.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
