The number of long-term unemployed continued to hover at very high levels in recession-battered Greece, recent figures show, despite a gradual decrease in the number of people considered as out of the job market in recent years.
By S. Papapetros
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The number of long-term unemployed continued to hover at very high levels in recession-battered Greece, recent figures show, despite a gradual decrease in the number of people considered as out of the job market in recent years.
According to Greece's statistical service, slightly more than 779,200 people are considered as long-term unemployed, with 70 percent of those people officially joblessness for more than a year. Of 1.114 million people on the unemployment rolls, 369,400 - a third of the total - are out of work for more than four years.
First quarter figures in 2017 show that the official unemployment rate was 23.3 percent, down 1.6 percent compared with the same quarter of 2016.
Nevertheless, the same figures show that long-term unemployment - exceeding four years - increased by 0.8 percent. An even more ominous parameter in the figure is the fact that 359,400 people in the long-term unemployment category are above the age of 45.