Israel’s financial report card as the country enters the new Jewish year, 5777, featured a lot of very good grades.
The Bank of Israel announced it will keep the interest rate unchanged at 0.1 percent for the month of October.
The inflation rate as measured by the change in the Consumer Price Index over the past 12 months was -0.7 percent, compared with -0.6 percent in the 12 months ending in July.
According to the second estimate of National Accounts data for the second quarter, the GDP grew by 4.0 percent (compared with 3.7 percent in the first estimate) (seasonally adjusted annual data), and exports (excluding diamonds and startups) grew by 10.9 percent (compared with 5.7 percent in the first estimate.)
The Labor Force Survey data for August indicate that the unemployment rate among Israelis ages 25 to 64 remained at 4.0 percent. The job vacancy rate increased to a record high of 4.0 percent (seasonally adjusted) in August.
However, the price of homes increased by 0.1 percent in June-July. Over the 12 months ending in June-July, home prices increased by 6 percent, as compared to the increase of 7 percent in the 12 months ending in May-June.