For the third quarter of 2013, there was a reported slight decrease in the unemployment rate in Greece. However, the Greek unemployment rate is still sky-high and the highest among the eurozone countries.
One of the main concerns of Greece’s coalition government is the high rate of unemployment. Greece’s government expects that the Greek economy will get back on track, along with the job opportunities that are anticipated to be created. So, all of the austerity measures that have been taken by the Greek government, such as painful cuts in wages and pensions along with a rise in taxes, would not have been in vain.
The current unemployment rate is three times more than it was in 2008, when the economic recession knocked on Greece’s door. This recession has resulted in a reduction of Greece’s gross domestic product at least by 25 percent.
An economist at National Bank, Nikos Magginas, mentioned that the economic contraction has slightly eased. This is happening due to the boost in tourism and the new job opportunities that arose in sectors, such as the agricultural and communications ones.
“Unemployment is expected to deteriorate moderately in the last quarter which is not a high tourism season,” Magginas said.
The current unemployment level has slightly dropped from 27.1 percent but still remains close to the record level of 27.4 percent in the first quarter of 2013.
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