JERUSALEM, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- With 159,500 people registered as jobless in July, Israel's monthly unemployment rate hit 3.7 percent, up from 3.4 percent in June, according to figures published by the country's Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday.

This is the second monthly increase in the jobless rate since August 2021. Israel registered 3.1 percent in April, the lowest in 42 years.

The main reason for the recent increase in the unemployment rate is summer seasonal layoffs, which significantly increased the rate of unemployed women, as well as education and social workers, the Israeli Employment Service said in a separate statement.

The departure of hundreds of thousands of Israelis for vacation overseas in July reduced the number of business customers and consequently the number of employees, Gad Lior, senior analyst for Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper, told Xinhua.

In a broader definition, which includes another 55,200 people who are temporarily absent from work or were laid off because of the pandemic, the unemployment rate in Israel is currently 4.9 percent, according to the bureau. Enditem

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