Jobless rate falls to 12-year low
Greece’s unemployment rate closed at a 12-year low at the end of July, below 12% and with a significant drop of almost one point compared to the previous month, as it reached 11.4% according to seasonally adjusted Eurostat data.
The decrease is even greater, by 2.9 percentage points on an annual basis, as in July 2021 the corresponding percentage according to the data Eurostat published on Thursday was 14.3%.
In the eurozone, the unemployment rate in July was 6.6%, compared to 6.7% in June and 7.7% in July 2021, while in the European Union as a whole the corresponding rate was 6% in July, from 6.1% a month earlier and 6.9% in July 2021.
In absolute figures, the unemployed in Greece amounted to 530,000, while in the whole of the EU in July 2022 it was 12.96 million, of whom 10.98 million were in the euro area. Compared to June 2022, the number of unemployed fell by 113,000 in the EU and by 77,000 in the euro area, while in Greece the reduction was of the order of 49,000 people.
Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis addressed the great reduction in the unemployment rate in a social media post on his personal account. He stated: “Unemployment 11.4% in July (Eurostat). A 12-year low. SYRIZA left us with 17.3%. Almost six points down! The unemployed decreased by 300,000.”
The problem of youth unemployment continues to plague Greece, which ranks top with 28.6% in July 2022 compared to 27.4% in June and 34% in July 2021.
It is worrying that in July this year youth unemployment increased compared to the previous month, which proves that more drastic solutions are needed, as Greece now appears to be touching the hard core of the problem.
Studies signed by a group of economists from the Athens University of Economics, the Center of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) and nonprofit think tank diaNEOsis, have pointed out that unemployment is not a transitory phenomenon of short duration, because it increases the possibility of future unemployment, while it also serves as a means of perpetuating poverty.
