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June 15, 2011

Gaza Strip Unemployment at Record High as Blockade Enters 5th Year 
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The United Nations is warning unemployment in the Gaza Strip has reached
an all-time high. Occupied by Israel in 1967, conditions in Gaza have
sharply worsened since Israel imposed a blockade in 2007 and proceeded
to launch a number of military attacks, notably the three-week assault
beginning in December 2008. Real wages have fallen 34.5 percent since
2006, with Palestinian refugees suffering the worst declines. U.N.
spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the Gaza unemployment rate is among the
highest in the world.

Martin Nesirky: "The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East (UNRWA), says in a new report that broad unemployment
in Gaza in the second half of 2010 reached an unprecedented 45.2
percent, one of the highest rates in the world."

The Gaza figures were announced as the Israeli blockade of Gaza entered
its fifth year.



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