Eurobank: 2019 jobless average below 18 pct

In its weekly review, Eurobank said that the drop in the jobless rate to 17.2 percent in May, which was announced this week by the independent statistics agency ELSTAT, was an encouraging sign, because it means that the average unemployment rate for 2019 will most likely drop below 18 percent.

The average monthly rate from January to May 2019 is exactly 18 percent, down from 20.1 percent during the same period last year.

This May’s jobless rate is the lowest since May 2011, and thus an eight-year low, and represents a net gain of 422,500 jobs since the high of 27.8 percent reached in September 2013.