Financial Times
February 10, 2011
The jobless rate among young Greeks hit a record 35 per cent last November as the country slipped deeper into recession, according to official figures.
Overall unemployment rose from 13.5 per cent to 13.9 per cent of the workforce in November, the Hellenic Statistical Authority said, marking lay-offs at the end of the tourist season and steadily rising job losses at small and medium-sized businesses.
The jump in unemployment came as Greece’s finance ministry prepares a fresh austerity package amounting to an additional €12.5bn of spending cuts and tax hikes between 2012 and 2014. The package comes on top of fiscal and structural measures already agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, aimed at reducing the budget deficit from 9.4 per cent to below 3 per cent of gross domestic product over the next three years.
The 35 per cent unemployment rate – up from 27 per cent in November 2010 – affected Greeks aged between 15 and 24, the statistics authority said. Analysts said companies were reluctant to hire new entrants to the workforce, whether unskilled teenagers or university graduates, in a deteriorating business climate.
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