Jobless rate at 14-year low
ELSTAT reports unemployment has receded to 10% for the first time since September 2009
Greece’s unemployment rate is finally on the verge of dropping into the single digits after 14 years, as on Friday the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) reported a 10% jobless rate for September, a level unseen since before September 2009, when it had come to 10.1%.
Nevertheless, declared employment remains at low levels, at 4.226 million people, and it is significantly reduced, by approximately 320,000 workers, in relation to the number of those employed in September 2009 (4.546 million).
This element shows that although unemployment has fallen to pre-crisis levels, the effects of the country’s bankruptcy on the labor market are still evident. Tens of thousands of workers, most of them highly qualified and skilled, left the Greek labor market and have not returned, since the majority of new jobs (seasonal, part-time) and salaries are not competitive compared to those they have found abroad.
This is added to the aging population and the traditionally lower employment among women, and undermines long-term growth prospects, public revenue and the income of the insurance system, since fewer people in work pay less in taxes and less in social security contributions.
Notably, compared to September 2022 the ELSTAT data show that the employed increased by 70,724 people and by 55,173 compared to the month before – i.e. August 2023 (up by 1.3%) – as there were no layoffs in the tourism sector thanks to the extension of the season, while the usual hiring of teachers at private schools and tutoring centers took place during this period.
In order to reduce the unemployment rate to 10%, the number of unemployed dropped by 104,240 people compared to September 2022 (-18.2%) and by 24,549 people compared to August 2023 (-5.0%).
Those under 75 years who are not in the labor force – i.e. those neither working nor looking for work – reached 3,100,098, an increase of 4,184 people compared to September 2022 (0.1%) and a decrease of 32,923 people from August 2023 (-1.1%).
