As Greek government officials insist that the worst of Greece’s economic crisis is coming to an end despite a sixth year of recession, the country’s unemployment rate soared to 26.8 percent in October, 2012, surpassing Spain, at 26.1 percent, as the biggest in the European Union.
Figures released by the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat also showed that Greece has the worst rate in the categories of jobless men (24.1 percent), women (30.4 percent) and the under-25’s (57.6 percent.) There are nearly two million people without jobs in Greece, including some 500,000 or more whose unemployment benefits have expired.
In December 2012 the EU had 25.9 million jobless people, of whom 18.7 million were in the eurozone while 1.8 million had lost their job in the euro area within the last 12 months.
Greece also ranked top in the jobless rate increase as it soared from 19.7 percent in October 2011 to 26.8 percent last October, a jump of 7.1 percent in a year and all indications are it will get worse fast before it gets better.
The BBC’s Athens correspondent, Mark Lowen, said: “Greeks blame austerity for the rise, with the number of jobless more than doubling since the country was first bailed out in 2010. “And with more spending cuts this year, many predict the rate will soon hit 30%.”
The government is imposing another round of pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions on the orders of international lenders but the measures have largely backfired with Greeks slowing spending almost to a standstill, leading to the closing of 68,000 businesses in the last three years.
Under the terms of the rescue funds, Greece is making deep spending cuts, such as redundancies and pay freezes in the public sector, and reduced pensions, worsening the country’s recession. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the sacrifice will be worth it because his government has projected a recovery will begin by the end of this year, unless more social unrest upsets his plans.
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!
