August 20, 2010
Greece's deepening recession is driving joblessness steadily higher, feeding discontent with the government's austerity program and dragging on the broader economy.
Greece's gross domestic product contracted by 3.5% in the second quarter from a year earlier, hitting retailers hard and sending unemployment rates to above 12% of the work force, according to data released last week.
Forecasts vary on justhow bad unemployment could get. The International Monetary Fund predicts the jobless rate will reach 14.8% by 2012. But some labor experts fear that before long, one in five Greek workers could be without jobs.
A big worry is that the coming end of the tourist season, a major strut for the Greek economy, looms as the next threat to Greece's struggle back to solvency and economic growth.
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