Greek unemployment falls to 14.4 pct in March, lowest since November 2010

Greece’s jobless rate dropped to 14.4 percent in March from a downwardly revised 15.9 percent reading in the previous month, data from the country’s statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.

It was the lowest jobless rate since November 2010.

Seasonally adjusted data showed the number of unemployed at 653,686 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 32.4 percent from 37.7 percent in the same month in 2019. 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 projected growth picking up this year, helping to drive joblessness down to 15.6 percent but the government-imposed lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus has thrown forecasts off.

The EU Commission, in its latest forecasts, estimates unemployment in Greece will rise to 19.9 percent this year, projecting the economy will contract by 9.7 percent.

[Reuters]