Tourism drives jobless rate down
The growth of tourism this year has had a clear impact on unemployment in Greece as the jobless rate announced on Thursday by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) for the second quarter came to 26.6 percent.
This compares with 27.8 percent in the first quarter of 2014 and 27.3 percent in the second quarter of 2013, although the Q2 figures issued have not yet been seasonally adjusted.
The ELSTAT report pointed to the number of employed people standing at 3,539,085 in the second quarter of the year and the number of unemployed at 1,280,101. About three in every four jobless people (74.4 percent) have been out of work for at least 12 months.
The survey found that the number of employed individuals increased by 1.6 percent compared to the previous quarter and by 0.1 percent against the second quarter of 2013.
The number of unemployed was down 4.6 percent compared to the previous quarter and by 3.6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2013.
The data showed that the only economic sector to show an increase in employment was services (thanks to tourism), amounting to 1.2 percent. The primary sector (agriculture, fishing etc) recorded a 1.1 percent drop and the secondary sector (manufacturing etc) a 3.7 percent decrease.
