The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) revealed that even though the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip declined by 4.3% in the last quarter of 2015 in comparison with the third quarter, joblessness remains high in Gaza, particularly amongst youth.

According to the World Bank, the Gaza Strip has one of the highest unemployment rates worldwide. In the fourth quarter of 2015, the overall unemployment rate stood at 38.4%, as reported by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

The average unemployment rate among youth reached almost 63% and 66.3% among refugee youth. The numbers are more dire for women: in the third quarter of 2015, the PCBS reports a rate of over 84%.