Unemployment rate eased to 20.2 percent in third quarter

Greece’s jobless rate fell to 20.2 percent in July-to-September from 21.1 percent in the second quarter, data from the country’s statistics service ELSTAT have showed.

About 75.6 percent of Greece’s 970,000 jobless are long-term unemployed, meaning they have been out of work for at least 12 months, the figures showed on Thursday.

Greece’s 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 third straight quarter in July-to-September but at a slower pace than in the previous quarter, according to statistics service (ELSTAT). It grew by 0.3 percent.

[Reuters]