Unemployment rate down by 2% in March

ELSTAT releases data for month

Greece’s unemployment rate dropped by 2 percent in March this year, standing at 20.1%, compared with 22.1% in March last year and revised down 20.6% in February 2018.
According to the data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) Labor Force Survey, the unemployed amounted to 956,260 people and fell by 101,576 compared to March 2017 (9.6% decrease) and by 14.591 compared to February 2018 (1.5% decrease).
The economically inactive (those not working or seeking work) amounted to 3,236,664 and fell by 8,567 compared to March 2017 (down 0.3%) and by 35,972 compared to February 2018 (down by 1.1%).
The unemployment rate for women (25% in March 2018 from 26.8% in March 2017) remains significantly higher than that for men (16.3% from 18.5%).
In terms of age, the highest rate is recorded in the 15-24 age group (43.2% in March 2018 from 45.2% in March 2017) and 24-34 years (24.7% from 28.7%). Following are the age brackets 35-44 (18.3% from 19.1%), 45- 54 years (16.4% from 17.3%), 55-64 years (16.4% from 19.3%) and 65-74 years old (11.8% from 10.9%).
Epirus – Western Macedonia (25% in March 2018 from 27.7% in March 2017), Attica (20.8% from 21.7%) and Peloponnese- Western Greece – Ionian Islands (20.4% from 22.4%) are the areas with the highest jobless rate.