With unemployment at a record high 26.8 percent – more than 55 percent for those under 25 – and the likelihood it could hit 28-30 percent in the next year, Greece’s uneasy coalition government said it’s going to reverse the phenomenon, Labour Minister Yannis Vroutsis said after a meeting of ministries headed by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on dealing with unemployment.
He didn’t say how, with more austerity measures being imposed that are expected to increase the ranks of the jobless and close thousands of more businesses. “Our main concern for 2013 is how new jobs will be generated, particularly for the youth, who are having difficulties in finding work and are thinking of immigrating,” Samaras stressed according to AMNA.
“The Prime Minister has sounded the alarm,” Vroutsis said after the meeting, adding that “we have declared war on unemployment, with the premier΄s office as the headquarters.” Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis, Agriculture Minister Athanassios Tsaftaris, Shipping Minister Costis Moussouroulis, Labour Minister Yannis Vroutsis and Tourism Minister Olga Kefaloyanni took part in the meeting. There were no reports that anyone offered any ideas on how to accomplish the task beyond their pronouncements.
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