157 Bank in the third quarter of 2010. The unemployment rate in the governorate of Hebron amounted to (25.0%) and (24.7%) in the governorate of Bethlehem, while the Jerusalem governorate recorded the lowest unemployment rate among the governorates of the West Bank, reaching (13.3%). The report showed a decrease in the number of employees in Palestine between the second quarter and third quarter of 2010 by (46,000) workers, to become (710,000) in the third quarter, compared with (756,000) in the second quarter. The number of workers in the West Bank decreased by (40,000) and the number of workers in the Gaza Strip decreased by (6,000). In addition, the findings of the above report showed that the number of Palestinian female workers in Palestine had fallen from (134,000) in the second quarter to (112,000) in the third quarter of 2010. The number of female workers in the West Bank decreased from (110,500) to (101,100), and the number of female workers in the Gaza Strip decreased from (23,200) to (19,600) during the same period. In general, when reviewing the (PCBS) reports with respect to the survey of the labor force and unemployment rates in the last three years (2008 ‐ 2010), it should be noted that unemployment rates were as follows: Unemployment rates of the labor force in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip) according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).192 Period 1 Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter ST 2010 22% 22.9% 26.6% ‐ 2009 25.4% 22.2% 25.8% 24.8% 2008 22.6% 25.8% 27.3% 27.9% 2‐ Supportive Government Policies to Create Job Opportunities We refer to the supportive policies to create job opportunities and to increase the employment rates in two categories: one deals with the Government policies 192 This data was collected from several reports issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and published on their website: http://www.pcbs.gov.ps