— Preliminary figures just made available showed that unemployment in Israel rose by 67 percent during the year just ended and other bad news for the economy. The actual figures were not immediately available but will be published by the Central Bureau of Statistics after all of the data has been formally collated.
According to the preliminary figures, real wages declined by nine percent in 1980, after allowing for an annual inflation rate of 130 percent. Private consumption per capita dropped by seven percent. Industrial investments declined by 11 percent and industrial production by between 4-5 percent.
One bright spot was the six percent drop in imports last year while exports increased by almost four percent. Public consumption rose by six percent, mainly as a result of the new military airfields being built in the Negev. Histadrut announced, meanwhile, a 1900 Shekel ($250) rise in the monthly minimum wage as of January 1, 1981. This is the result of the 21.6 percent increase in the cost-of-living allowance payable this month.
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