Greek jobless rate still 27% in April

Greece’s jobless rate in April was still just over 27 per cent, unchanged from an upwardly revised figure a month earlier, showing that a recovery in the country’s jobs market continues to languish despite signs the economy is inching its way out of recession.

Figures from the Greek statistics agency, Elstat, showed Thursday that unemployment in April was 27.3 per cent, the same as in March, after taking into account seasonally adjusted revisions.

Previously, the non-adjusted figures for March showed an unemployment rate of 26.8 per cent.

Since peaking close to 28 per cent last year, Greece’s unemployment rate has been declining, albeit very gradually, and the latest figure is still more than twice the eurozone’s average rate of 11.7 per cent in April, and remains the highest in Europe. In total, some 1.3 million Greeks are without jobs.

Labor market conditions for the country’s younger workers remain extremely difficult, with 56.3 per cent of those aged between 15 to 24 years out of work.

Greece’s economy is expected to return to growth in 2014 after a six-year recession, with the Greek government and its international creditors forecasting an annual expansion rate of 0.6 per cent this year.

Unemployment is expected to ease to an average rate of 26 per cent this year from 27.3 per cent in 2013, according to latest European Commission forecast.