The unemployment rate in recession-mired Greece rose to 16.5 percent in July, a 0.5-point increase from a month earlier, the national statistics office said on Tuesday.
As the government prepared to adopt another round of austerity measures under pressure from its creditors and with recession deepening, the official number of people out of work jumped to over 820,000 from 607,000 a year previously.
Unions say the real number of unemployed is much higher and warn that the overall rate will likely exceed 20 percent next year.
The figure was 16.3 percent in the second quarter.
In the 15-24 age bracket, over 42 percent are out of work, compared to 32.6 percent last year.
Unemployment among women soared from 15.7 percent last year to 20.3 percent, compared to 13.8 percent among men, up from 9.4 percent in 2010.
(source: AFP)
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