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.