Greek unemployment rate hits all-time high

Unemployment is considerably higher among women than men (20 percent against 14.1 percent), while the age bracket with the biggest jobless rate is 15-24-year-olds, at 40.1 percent.

The number of unemployed persons in Greece has soared to 822,719, according to data published by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) on Thursday.

With the economy in its third year of recession, the unemployment rate rose to an all-time high 16.6 percent from 15.8 percent in April. It was 12 percent in May last year.
The number of jobless people in May shot up by 220,534, according to the ELSTAT figures, 36.6 percent more than May last year, and by 36,260 people compared to April this year.
The economically inactive population, which includes all men and women who are not part of the labor force, i.e. are neither employed nor unemployed, now includes 4,383,374 people.
Unemployment is considerably higher among women than men (20 percent against 14.1 percent), while the age bracket with the biggest jobless rate is 15-24-year-olds, at 40.1 percent.
By region, the highest unemployment was in the western Macedonia region, where the jobless rate reached 24.9 percent in May, ELSTAT reported.
In a recent survey on the Greek economy, the OECD forecast an unemployment rate of 16 per cent in 2011 and 16.4 per cent in 2012.