November unemployment drops to 16.5 pct

Greece’s jobless rate eased slightly to 16.5 percent in November from 16.6 percent in the previous month, data from the country’s statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.

It was the lowest jobless rate since April 2011.

Seasonally adjusted data showed the number of unemployed at 772,614 people, with those aged up to 24 bearing the brunt of being out of work.

Among younger persons aged 15 to 24, the jobless rate fell to 36.1 percent from 39.7 percent in the same month in 2018. Greece’s jobless rate, which hit a record high of 27.8 percent in September 2013, has been falling since but remains the highest in the euro zone.

Greece’s 2020 budget projects growth picking up to 2.8 percent this year from 2 percent in 2019, helping to bring the jobless rate down to 15.6 percent from 17.4 percent last year. 

[Reuters]