A 50-shekel note. Israel’s unemployment rate sunk to 4.9 percent compared to 5.3 percent in March. Photo: Bank of Israel.

JNS.org – April 2016 marked a historic drop in the Israeli unemployment rate, which sunk to 4.9 percent compared to 5.3 percent in March, according to a new report from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

The report said about 193,000 people were unemployed in April, down from roughly 208,000 in March. CBS economists warned not to read too much into the changes in April due to a rise in temporary jobs leading up to the Passover holiday, but the drop in unemployment is still seen as noteworthy.

Meanwhile, Bank of Israel Governor Dr. Karnit Flug has left Israel’s June interest rate unchanged at 0.1 percent. Among other reasons, the interest rate remains unchanged due to the continued rise in housing prices, the growing demand for mortgages, and the surprising rise of the dollar by 4.26 percent since the beginning of May.