ECONOMY

Greek unemployment inched to 20.2 pct in April

Greek unemployment inched to 20.2 pct in April

Greece’s jobless rate rose marginally to 20.2 percent in April from 20.1 percent the previous month, data from the country’s statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.

Seasonally adjusted data showed the number of unemployed at 949,726 people, with younger persons aged up to 24 bearing the brunt of being out of work. Women were also the highest percentage of the jobless, at 24.7 percent compared to 16.5 percent for men.

Among younger persons aged 15 to 24, the jobless rate eased to 42.3 percent from 44.2 percent in the same month in 2017.

Greece’s jobless rate, which hit a record high of 27.9 percent in September 2013, has been coming down since but remains the highest in the euro zone.

The government expects the unemployment rate to fall to 18.4 percent this year, based on projections in its 2018 budget.

Unemployment in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell to 8.4 percent in April, according to Eurostat. [Reuters] 

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