Labor market balance keeps improving
May was the third month in a row that saw hirings outnumber sackings in Greece, according to the Labor Ministry’s Ergani electronic database.
Salaried employment grew by over 55,000 jobs, as hiring announcements numbered 124,295 against 68,562 dismissals. Departures broke down into 22,498 voluntary exits and 46,064 sackings or expired contracts.
The ministry highlighted on Monday that the May job surplus was 33.27 percent higher than the May 2012 figure thanks to the year-on-year increase in hirings by 15,393.
As a result the number of hiring announcements in the first five months of the year came to 368,852, posting an annual increase of 21 percent, while departures numbered 292,659, of which 193,566 were sackings or contract terminations and 99,093 comprised voluntary exits. That means the balance in the labor market was positive to the tune of 76,193 jobs.
“May figures constitute yet another positive sign in the employment field. However, this positive development does not allow for complacency. On the contrary, we are closely monitoring the development of trends and we are increasing our efforts to tackle unemployment, the most painful dimension of the crisis,” stated Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis.
