Long-term unemployment affecting almost one in two Greeks

Almost one in two Greeks looking for a job have been unemployed for more than a year, the February data from the country’s employment agency OAED showed on Wednesday.

According to the report, 514,704 people or 47.6 percent of those registered in OAED are long-term unemployed, while the total number of jobless remained firmly over one million, despite the small drop in unemployment rates.

Specifically for February, 1,081,060 were recorded as unemployed, down 11,265 compared to 1,092,325 one month earlier.

Year-on-year, the unemployed dropped by 14,806 people.

The unemployed women (670,256) accounted for 61.99 percent of the total.

Viewed by age, the highest unemployment rate is recorded in the 30-44 age group with 38.08 percent or 411,730 unemployed.

Finally, with regards to the educational level, most jobless people on OAED’s list are secondary school graduates (502,442 or 46.47 percent).

The figures also showed an increase in the subsidized unemployed, which in February reached 191,776 people, from 171,131 a month earlier. This means that within one month the subsidized unemployed increased by 12.06 percent or by 20,645 people.

Of the total number of this group, 79,061 (41.23 percent) are seasonal employees from the tourism sector, 3,976 (2.07 percent) are builders, 16,386 (8.54 percent) are seasonal workers in agriculture while the majority, 91,842 (47.89 percent), come from average businesses.