Greek unemployment eases to 21.2 pct in June, still eurozone’s highest

Greece’s jobless rate eased to 21.2 percent in June from a downwardly revised 21.5 percent in the previous month, statistics agency ELSTAT said on Thursday, but the rate remains the eurozone’s highest.

The seasonally adjusted data showed that the number of officially unemployed reached 1.01 million people. Hardest hit were young people aged 15 to 24 years, with their jobless rate dropping to 43.3 percent from 46.5 percent in June last year.

Greece’s jobless rate hit a record high of 27.9 percent in September 2013. It has come down from record highs but remains more than double the eurozone’s average.

Unemployment in the 19 countries sharing the euro was 9.1 percent in July, unchanged from June.

Greece’s economy expanded in the second quarter of 2017. Economic output grew 0.5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017. [Reuters]