Dollar lost 3.5% against the shekel over past two weeks
The dollar has fallen by 3.5% against the shekel over the past two weeks. Yesterday the greenback recovered somewhat, by 0.2%, and rose to a representative rate of NIS 3.92 after falling 1.2% on Friday before the Rosh Hashanah holiday - to a rate of NIS 3.88. No official representative rates were set from Sunday through Tuesday due to the holiday. The euro fell 0.4% against the shekel yesterday and the representative rate was set at NIS 5.087. The dollar's fall against the shekel in recent weeks is mostly a function of its movement in global forex markets against a strengthening euro and other major currencies. At the end of July, the dollar hit a high of $1.20 against the euro and since then it has fallen 8% against the European currency to the present $1.30 level - with the lion's share of the fall coming in the past two weeks. (Ram Ozeri )
Panel on Saturday-Sunday weekend to issue findings in two weeks
A committee examining a proposal to shift the Israeli weekend to Saturday and Sunday should have its final recommendations ready within the next two weeks, amid conflicting reports or not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports the idea. Silvan Shalom, Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, proposed the change more than a year ago. It was referred to a panel headed by Eugene Kandel, Netanyahu's chief economic adviser. Shalom says a Saturday-Sunday weekend would aid economic growth by putting Israel in line with most of the world, but opponents on the committee assert that it will do the exact opposite, while reducing savings and exacerbating social gaps. (Hila Weisberg )
Paz to sell power to Clalit hospitals
Paz Oil will sell Clalit Health Services NIS 400 million of electricity over a 10-year period, for the health maintenance organization's Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva and Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva. Paz said it also signed a deal to sell power to Central Bottling Company (Coca-Cola Israel ) plants in Bnei Brak and Ashdod. The electricity will come from a 43-megawatt-capacity power station that Paz uses primarily to power its adjacent oil refinery. About 18 megawatts of the total generating capacity is being sold to outside customers, including factories and Clalit's Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center, in Ra'anana, which earlier signed a contract. Paz is building an additional 90 megawatts of generating capacity. (Itai Trilnick )
Consumer spending fell in the summer
In another sign of economic slowdown, sales of consumer goods are continuing to fall. For the three months from June through August sales of categories including food, beverages, household and personal care fell 0.6%, according to data collected by market research firm Nielsen Innovate. Sales in these categories dropped 1.2% from January through August, but the slowdown is accelerating: In the January to June period alone sales actually rose 1%. Nielsen Innovate figures are based on data from the point of sale - the cash registers in 97% of all stores that use checkout scanners at - and does not include the Arab sector. Food sales fell 0.5% over the past three months and beverage sales plunged 3.8%. (Adi Dovrat-Meseritz )
Pelephone claims union lacks enough members for workers committee
The war between management and labor at mobile carrier Pelephone heated up on Wednesday when the company claimed that the Histadrut labor federation had not signed up the one-third minimum of Pelephone employees needed by law in order to unionize. The umbrella trade union organization claimed it had the number of workers needed to enter into collective bargaining over salaries and terms of employment. Dalit Berg, a Pelephone vice president, sent workers an email yesterday saying that after examining the sign-up forms she found that the required one-third of employees had not joined the union. The Histadrut said in response that Pelephone's claims of invalid sign-up forms and other irregularities were just another attempt to avoid dealing with the union. The Labor Court is set to hear the matter soon. (Haim Bior )
