Greece’s largest labor union has warned that the country’s unemployment rate – now at 23.1 percent will reach 29% in 2013 if the government carries out more planned austerity measures that include $14.16 billion in cuts for 2013-14.
“The course of the Greek economy is one of decline. In 2012, we are expecting a drop in GDP of 7 percent, said Savvas Rombolis, Head of Research at the GSEE labor union, which represents private sector workers.
“Our estimate is that in 2013, unemployment will be between 28% and 29%, more than 1.4 million people. That’s because we expect the economy to remain in decline,” he added. That would add 285,000 people to the unemployment rolls, while another 672,000 have seen their benefits expire. The projections are to be included in a report that will be published on Sept. 6. The jobless rate for those under-25 is already 54.9 percent.
The report, Rombolis said, also found that Greeks on minimum wage have seen their spending power reduced to 1979 levels, while those earning an average salary have been pushed back to the equivalent of the early 1980’s, after analyzing wage
(Sources: rte, AP)
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