Three out of four jobless are at least 12 months without work
The unemployment rate started climbing again in the last quarter of 2014, putting an end to a period of moderate decline. The jobless reached 26.1 percent of the work force in October-December 2014 due to the political and economic uncertainty generated by the prospect of the elections and the change in government, Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) figures showed on Thursday.
That rate compares to 25.5 percent in the third quarter of the year, but is below the rate recorded a year earlier (27.8 percent). The number of unemployed in the last quarter of 2014 reached 1,245,854 people.
The ELSTAT survey also found that eight out of 10 jobless Greeks are so desperate to find work that they are prepared to take any job offered to them as the rate of long-term unemployed (those out of work for at least 12 months) is continuing to grow, reaching 73 percent against 72 percent a year earlier.
