October 12, 2012

Financial crisis in Greece continues onslaught on workers

The Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece - Unemployment in Greece hit a record high of 25.1 percent in July as the country's financial crisis continues to exact its heavy toll, official figures showed Thursday.

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High school students in protest state funding cuts that have disrupted school bus services in Athens.

The Associated Press

All indications are that unemployment in Greece will continue to rise. The economy has shrunk by around a fifth since the recession started in 2008 and youth unemployment has pushed far above 50 percent. The economy is expected to enter a sixth year of recession next year.

"This is a very dramatic result of the recession," said Angelos Tsakanikas, head of research at Greece's IOBE economic research foundation.

The state statistics agency said Greece's unemployment rate rose from 24.8 percent in June. According to European statisticians, that would be the same rate as Spain's in August.

The two countries have the highest unemployment rates among the 17 that use the euro. In August, eurozone unemployment stood at an average 11.4 percent, itself the highest level since the single currency was launched in 1999.

Greece's statistical authority said 1.26 million Greeks were out of work in July, with more than 1,000 jobs lost every day over the past year. In the 15-24 age group, unemployment was 54.2 percent. In July 2008, a year before the financial crisis, there were only about 364,000 registered unemployed.

 

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