Greece’s jobless rate eases to 21.1 pct in second quarter
Greece’s jobless rate fell to 21.1 percent in April-to-June from 23.3 percent in the first quarter, data from the country’s statistics service showed on Thursday.
About 74.0 percent of Greece’s 1.02 million jobless are long-term unemployed, meaning they have been out of work for at least 12 months, the figures showed. Young people aged 20 to 24 faced a jobless rate of 45 percent in the second quarter.
The highest unemployment rate was recorded in the first quarter of 2014, when joblessness hit 27.8 percent.
Athens has already published monthly unemployment figures through
June, which differ from quarterly data because they are based on different samples and are seasonally adjusted. Quarterly figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Greece’s economy expanded for a second straight quarter between April and June, growing by 0.5 percent on a quarterly basis.
The government has downwardly revised this year’s growth projection to 1.8 percent from 2.7 percent previously. The European Commission has also cut its economic growth forecast for Greece to 2.1 percent from 2.7 percent previously. [Reuters]
