Joblessness in Greece edges up in February
Unemployment in Greece remains stuck at around 20.5-21 percent, as in February the jobless rate stood at 20.8 percent. While this may be 1.8 percentage points down on last year’s downwardly revised rate of 22.6 percent, it is also marginally up on January’s 20.7 percent rate, according to figures released on Thursday by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).
Notably, since last June, when unemployment was at 21.3 percent, the rate appears unable to drop below 20.7-20.8 percent.
ELSTAT data showed that 978,072 people were unemployed in February, down by 102,296 (or 9.5 percent) from a year earlier and by 2,045 (0.2 percent) from January 2018, which is explained by the contraction of the total workforce this year.
ELSTAT’s manpower survey put the number of people in work at 3,735,098 in February, which is up 0.9 percent from February 2017 but down 0.4 percent from January 2018. The economically inactive (those who neither have nor are seeking a job) came to 3,277,165, up 1.1 percent on February 2017 and 0.4 percent on January 2018.
The gap between men and women is growing, as in February the jobless rate for women stood at 26.2 percent (from 27.1 percent a year earlier) while for men it was 16.4 percent (from 19 percent).
