Unemployment jumps to 26.8% in Oct. 2012

Page last updated at 05:05 GMT, Thursday, January 10, 2013 - 10:05 EST

AMNA--Unemployment in Greece jumped to a record 26.8% in October 2012, posting a 7.1% rise year-on-year over the previous year (October 2011), with the number of unemployed exceeding 1.34 million, with unemployment among youth nearing 60%, the independent Hellenic Statistics Authority (ELSTAT) said on Thursday.

ELSTAT, in a report, said that the unemployment rate in October 2012 was 26.8% compared to 19.7% in October 2011 and 26.2% in September 2012.

The number of employed amounted to 3,680,894 persons. Τhe number of unemployed amounted to 1,345,715 while the number of inactive to 3,344,478.

The number of employed decreased by 309,335 persons compared with October 2011 (a 7.8% rate of decrease) and by 16,015 persons compared with September 2012 (a 0.4% rate of decrease).

Unemployed increased by 368,102 persons (a 37.7% rate of increase) compared with October 2011 and by 36,219 persons compared with September 2012 (a 2.8% rate of increase), reaching 1,345,715 unemployed persons in October 2012.

Inactive persons –that is, persons that neither worked neither looked for a job– decreased by 23,828 persons (a 0.7% rate of decrease) compared with October 2011 and by 7,478 persons compared with September 2012 (a 0.2% rate of decrease).

The hardest hit category was once again the 15-24 age group at 56.6%, with an increasing number of young people seeking employment abroad.