Unemployment nears 80 percent in Gaza: UN report

Eight months of war in Gaza have caused unemployment in the Palestinian enclave to reach a "staggering" 79.1 percent, the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) said in a new report.

This figure brings the average unemployment in the State of Palestine to 50.8 percent, as unemployment in the West Bank has also risen to 32 percent.

Additionally, the Gaza Strip's GDP has contracted by an "astounding" 83.5 percent and by 22.7 percent in the West Bank ove the past eight months, meaning that the GDP in the Occupied Palestinian Territories has shrunk by an average of 32.8 percent.

The ILO also said that 51 percent of West Bank workers who are still employed have faced reduced working hours, while 62.8 percent experienced reduced wages.

As "almost all private sector establishments have either completely ceased or significantly reduced production" in Gaza, the Palestinian territories have experienced daily private sector production losses equivalent to USD $19 million during the first four months of the war.