Greece retains EU’s highest rate of unemployment

Unemployment in Greece dipped to 18.9 percent in August of this year, from 19 percent the previous month, but remains the highest rate in the European Union, according to figures made public on Friday by the European Commission's statistics service Eurostat.

In October, joblessness in the eurozone remained stable at 8.1 percent (there were no corresponding figures for Greece), marking a record low for the bloc since November 2008. In the EU meanwhile, the jobless rate is even lower, at 6.7 percent, the lowest level since January 2000.

After Greece with its highest-ranking rate of 18.9 percent in August came Spain with 14.8 percent with the lowest jobless rates recorded in Germany (3.3 percent) and the Czech Republic (2.2 percent).

After Croatia, Greece had the largest drop in unemployment in the EU – from 20.8 percent in August 2017 to 18.9 percent this August, corresponding to 897,000 people.

Greece also had the highest jobless rate for under-25s, with 36.8 percent of young Greeks unemployed as compared to 34.9 percent in Spain and 32.5 percent in Italy. The lowest rates were in the Netherlands (7.2 percent), Germany (6.2 percent) and the Czech Republic (5.2 percent).