Greek jobless rate rises to 19.2 pct in first quarter

Greece's jobless rate rose to 19.2 percent in January-to-March from 18.7 percent in the fourth quarter, data by the country's statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.

About 64.9 percent of Greece's 907,061 jobless are long-term unemployed, meaning they have been out of work for at least 12 months, the figures showed.

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 March, which differ from quarterly data because they are based on different samples and are seasonally adjusted.

March unemployment fell to 18.1 percent, the lowest since July 2011. Quarterly figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Greece's economy expanded 0.2 percent in the first three months of 2019 after shrinking slightly in last year's final quarter, driven by consumer spending and a pick-up in investments, although a slow-down in Europe made falling exports a drag.

[Reuters]