Average monthly salary rises to NIS 10,200

The average gross monthly wage of a salaried worker in Israel in January was NIS 10,208 in current prices, according to figures published on Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

According to the statistics bureau, the average wage per full-time job of a wage earner rose by an annualized 2.4% in current prices, or 1.7% in fixed prices, in November 2017-January 2018 (fixed prices exclude the effect of price increases or decreases). Some 24,500 new wage earners entered the labor force in January, a 0.6% rise.

Employees in the financial sector, including banking and insurance companies, had the steepest pay rises – an annualized 7.5% in November 2017-January 2018, following a 10.1% increase in August-October 2017. The increase was attributed to a rise in the minimum wage at most insurance companies and the automatic pay raises for bank workers.

The average gross monthly wage in financial companies in January was NIS 19,527, compared with the NIS 17,638 average monthly wage at government companies. The average gross monthly wage was NIS 10,160 in the governmental sector, in which 19% of all wage earners in Israel are employed, and NIS 10,889 in the private sector, excluding the financial sector.

The number of jobs also rose in January, reaching 3.8 million. Jobs held by Israeli workers increased by 22,500 and jobs held by foreign workers by 2,000.

(Globes/TNS)