Greek November unemployment at 18.5 pct
Greece’s jobless rate dropped to 18.5 percent in November from an upwardly revised 18.7 percent in the previous month, data from the country’s statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.
November’s unemployment rate was the lowest reading since July 2011.
Seasonally adjusted data showed the number of unemployed at 875,195 people, with younger persons aged up to 24 bearing the brunt of being out of work.
Among younger persons aged 15 to 24, the jobless rate fell to 39.1 percent from 44.3 percent in the same month in 2017.
Greece’s jobless rate, which hit a record high of 27.8 percent in September 2013, has been coming down since but remains the highest in the eurozone.
The government expects unemployment to decline to 18.2 percent this year as the economy recovers, based on projections in its 2019 budget.
Greece’s economy expanded for a ninth straight quarter in July-to-September and at a slower pace than the quarter before.
Unemployment in the 19 countries sharing the euro eased to 7.9 percent in November from 8.0 percent in the previous month, according to Eurostat. [Reuters]
