The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said last Sunday that Israel's industrial production rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.3% in October, led by the high-tech sector, after a 0.2% decline in September.



Production rose by an annual rate of 7.6% between August and October, according to trend data. It was down 6.6% in the first 10 months of 2009.



Despite the ongoing growth in industrial production, the number of workers employed in the industry has dropped an annual rate of 1.2% between August and October, following a 4.4% decrease in the number of workers in the previous three months.



The number of industry workers dropped by 7.4% in the first 10 months of 2009, compared to the parallel first 10 months of 2008.



The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.7% of the civilian labor force in October, amounting to 233,000 persons, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today.



The Central Bureau of Statistics also revised upwards its unemployment figures for August to 7.7% from 7.6%.



The unemployment jumped from 6% in August 2008 to 7.9% in April-May 2009, when it stabilized, and then began to slowly decline in June.



Israel's economy is forecast to show no growth in 2009. It rose by 2.2% at an annual rate in the third quarter.