Greece’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 26.4 percent in December, 2012, down only 0.6 percent from a record high the month before, but many analysts said there’s no reason to feel optimistic yet. There were 1,321,236 people jobless, according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) in giving its monthly report.
December’s jobless figures represent a 5 percent jump from a year earlier and a 0.2 percent drop from November 2012.
The number of employed people increased by some 40,000 between November and December last year. There are 3,679,074 people working in Greece but some 3,341,863 who are inactive, as well as those without jobs, showing the depths of the country’s six-year recession that has been worsened by austerity measures imposed by the government on the orders of international lenders.
The rate has fluctuated around the record levels in recent months, with some economists expecting an increase to 30 percent this year. About a million Greeks have lost their jobs since the start of the recession in late 2008. Only 3.7 million people work out of a population of nearly 11 million.
The unemployment rate is all in the private sector as the government has been steadfastly resisting orders from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) to fire 150,000 workers in the hugely bloated public sector, which could propel the jobless rate to record heights.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
