Economy

Greece jobless rate hits record high

Greece jobless rate hits record high

Greece’s unemployment rate has risen to a new record high as the country is struggling with a crippling recession after several years of austerity under international bailout.

The country’s statistics service ELSTAT announced on Thursday March’s jobless rate hit 26.8 percent, twice the eurozone’s average rate.

“It’s long-term unemployment that is the most worrisome as the percentage is higher than 60 percent,” Greek economist Angelos Tsakanikas said.

The youths, aged 15 to 24, are still the hardest-hit, even though the unemployment rate for the group fell from 64.2 percent in February to 58.3 percent in March.

In addition, ELSTAT estimates that 700 to 1,000 Greeks have been laid off from their work daily since the country’s financial crisis erupted in 2009.

Greek pensioners regularly take to the streets of Athens to protest against what they call butchered incomes.

Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its sixth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left tens of thousands of people without jobs.

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