Nearly 30,000 jobs were lost in January, according to data released by the Greek Labour Ministry’s IT system “Ergani”. The number is the largest in 16 years for the moth of January. The balance of hirings and lay-offs was negative, with 29,817 jobs lost in the first month of the year. The Labour Ministry said the negative figures were expected. The sectors most affected were in retail, restaurants and accommodation. The official tables showed an outflow of 156,318 employees as opposed to 126,501 inflows in employment.