Greece’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent in the second quarter from 9.1 percent in the first three months of the year, the lowest quarterly reading since 1998, the National Statistics Service (NSS) said yesterday. Year-on-year the jobless rate also improved from 8.8 percent in the second quarter of 2006, the NSS said. Despite Greece’s strong economic growth, 4.2 percent in the second quarter, joblessness remains higher than the 6.9 percent eurozone average. The NSS said there were 398,006 people officially unemployed in Greece. It also estimated that 4.52 million people had jobs. Joblessness continued to affect women more than men. In the second quarter, unemployment in the female population was 12.6 percent compared to 5.0 percent for men. It was a more severe 17.8 percent for people in the 15-29 age group. The long-term unemployed, people out of work for more than 12 months, made up 52.3 percent of the jobless pool, the NSS said. (Reuters)

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa yesterday confirmed black empowerment consortium Gidani, backed by Greece’s lottery systems provider Intralot, as the company to run its lottery, the SAPA news agency reported. The seven-year license for Gidani was first announced last year, but it was suspended after a South African court ruled that the contract was flawed, stopping it from replacing previous license holder, Uthingo, in March this year.

Turkey’s Energy Ministry suggested a 15 percent power price hike for residences and a 7.5 percent price increase for industry, Turkish television channel NTV reported yesterday. The price increase suggestion comes ahead of a planned privatization of Turkey’s electricity distribution and production facilities, which have seen strong interest from foreign investors. Low electricity prices, which have not been raised in the five years that the Justice and Development Party has been in power, have kept energy producers from using their full capacity, which has led to electricity shortage worries. (Reuters)

PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Europe’s second-biggest car maker by volume, yesterday said it signed a letter of intent to study further technical cooperation with Turkey’s Karsan. The project is for the co-development of parts for utility vehicles and the assembly of specific utility vehicles in the Bursa plant for Turkey and neighboring countries. (Reuters)

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 16.5 percent year on year in August to 3.38 million, the Turkish Statistics Institute said yesterday. The tourism sector, an important source of foreign currency for Turkey, has rebounded strongly this year after being hit in 2006 by concerns about a bird flu outbreak and bomb attacks. (Reuters)

Greece has harmonized its legislation with an EU directive envisaging uniform electronic systems for the payment of highway toll dues throughout the Union. The deadline for implementation is 2012.