Unemployment Rate amounts 27.5% in First Quarter of 2013

Unemployment rate in Palestinian Territory has increased from 26.7% in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 27.5% in the first quarter of 2013, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics published . Using International Labor Organization standards, the number of unemployed persons was 271,000, distributed to 152,000 in the West Bank and 119,000 in Gaza Strip . Unemployment rate in Gaza Strip attained 31% compared with 20.3% in the West Bank . The highest unemployment rate was concentrated among youth aged 20-24 years with a percentage of 41.1% . Labor force participation rate reached 43.4% of people age 15 years and above . The number of people participating in labor force in the Palestinian Territory was 1.134 million; of whom 750,000 were in the West Bank and 384,000 in Gaza Strip . Huda Skaik , a PHD student and researcher , added Gaza Strip suffers from unemployment because of siege .It is obviously Palestinian government makes great efforts to provide work opportunities to fight unemployment ghost ,however, the rate is still very high and the government have to create basic solutions to overcome this trouble , she said . The labor force participation rate in the West Bank reached 45%, while it was 40.5% in Gaza Strip . A total of 69.0% is the participation rate for males, compared to 17.1% for females according to PCBS . Hedaya Alttattar , a journalist in Gaza , urges both governments in Gaza and West Bank and private sector to back investment projects to contribute in providing work opportunities for youth . The citizen Mohammed Zaher ,who had been working in Occupied territories "Israel " as a builder , lives a miserable life with his 9 sons who cannot join neither their schools nor universities .He slammed the government accusing it of neglecting needs of workers . Since Israeli blockade which starts in 2006 ,one of the things you notice in Gaza is the tremendous number of people just sitting around apparently with time on their hands - smoking, chatting, shading themselves from the June sun , a foreign journalist declared .