Photo Credit: Hillel Maeir / TPS
Karnit Flug, Governor of the Bank of Israel.

The Bank of Israel announced Monday (Nov. 28) that the interest rate for December will once again remain unchanged at 0.1 percent.

The announcement came as welcome news for Israelis seeking to purchase homes for the first times, or those who are refinancing their homes.

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The monthly economic report by the BOI Monetary Committee noted there was a seasonal decline of 0.3 percent in the housing component of the Consumer Price Index for October, which increased by 0.2 percent, “slightly more than the forecasters’ predictions of 0.1 percent, on average.”

The inflation rate as measured by the change in the CPI over the past 12 months was -0.3 percent, according to the report.

The employment picture is also positive, reported BOI. “Labor Force Survey data for October for the prime working ages (25–64) continue to show a high labor force participation rate (80.1 percent) and employment rate (76.9 percent), and a low unemployment rate (3.9 percent), while the job vacancy rate remains high, at 3.7 percent (seasonally adjusted).

“The number of employee posts increased in August by 0.25 percent, and has increased by 3.0 percent in the past 12 months. Real wages, which have been in an upward trend in the past two years, increased by 0.5 percent (seasonally adjusted) in June–August compared with the preceding three months, and nominal wages increased by a similar rate. Health tax receipts for August–October were 6.25 percent higher (in nominal terms) than in the corresponding period in the year before, reflecting the continued increase in employment and wages.”

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.