JERUSALEM: Unemployment in Israel fell to 5.5 percent in the second quarter of this year, the lowest level in 28 years, figures released by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
The figure was down from six percent during the same period last year, and showed some 175,000 people were unemployed at the end of June, the bureau said.
The falling unemployment rate comes as Israelis continue to take to the streets to protest economic conditions in the Jewish state, including the high cost of living and income disparity.
The Israeli government has promised to respond to the demands of protesters, but has also defended its economic record, pointing to positive economic indicators, including the low unemployment rate and high growth.
Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz welcomed the unemployment figures in a statement, saying they showed the government's economic policy was having positive results.
"The measures we have taken over the past two years continue to prove themselves. The historically low unemployment levels are particularly striking given the volatility in the global market," he said.
"Our economy has proved its stability, which must be preserved by continuing with responsible budgetary policy," he said.
Steinitz has already warned that any reforms taken in response to the economic protests shaking the Jewish state should not push the government to spend outside its current budget, a position supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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