Labor market remains on ice
The labor market is still on ice in Greece as a result of the pandemic and the constant changes forced on the operation of stores and the economy. Therefore in January the Labor Ministry’s Ergani hirings database recorded a positive balance with the creation of 2,338 jobs, but that was only half as many as a year earlier.
There were also fewer layoffs, given the protection measures for employment and the ban on dismissals during the application of the government’s protective measures for enterprises.
Hirings last month came to 96,868, against 177,632 in pre-pandemic January 2020, but they outnumbered departures, which reached 94,530 – i.e. less than half than the 194,950 a year earlier.
The freeze on layoffs has led to a reversal of the usual trend observed in January, which since 2011 has always shown a labor deficit – with the exception of 2014 and 2021. From January 2020 to January 2021 the result was improved by 19,656 jobs.
The same sluggish picture has emerged from the Hellenic Statistical Authority data on the unemployment rate, which showed a decline in November to 16.2% from 16.6% in November 2019 and from a revised 16.4% in October 2020. The jobless numbered 753,494 and those employed amounted to 3,894,030.
