Greece’s unemployment rate eased marginally at 27.0% in June from 27.1% in May, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Thursday. June’s reading was the lowest since January 2013, when it stood at 26.8%. At more than double the Eurozone average of 11.5% in July, the country’s unemployment rate remains near record highs despite signs of economic recovery, which is expected to emerge from recession and expand by 0.6% this year. The Greek Manpower Employment Organization (OAED) also announced on Thursday a slight rise of 1.84% in its unemployment register in July, with figures pointing at 835,282 people, as opposed to 820,156 people the previous month. The report showed that 444,665 people (53.47%) were registered for 12 months and over, while 388,617 people (46.53%) were registered for less than a year. The highest percentage of registered unemployed were Greek nationals aged between 30 and 54. They were high-school graduates, 38.85% male, and 61.15% female. Unemployment rate in Greece will remain persistently high until the end of 2015 and will continue to hover around the current record levels of 27%, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forecast in its Employment Outlook 2014 report, AMNA reported. It was also noted that Greece has one of the highest rates of long-term unemployment among OECD countries, with the percentage of long-term unemployed rising from 49% in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 71% in the first quarter of 2014. OECD called this trend “particularly alarming” as a result of the suffering imposed on both the people affected and their families, and for the potential increase in structural unemployment due to a deterioration of skills and reduced incentives to seek work. “This could have a visible impact on the long-term career prospects of those experiencing long periods of unemployment,” the report stressed. The report showed that the reduction in real wages in Greece was among the highest among OECD countries (more than 5% annually on average since the first quarter of 2009), while productivity remained low. “Even though the great reduction in wages contributed to a partial reversal of the difference with Germany in terms of unit labor costs, the increase in labor productivity per hour remains stubbornly negative since the start of the crisis,” the report added. The report also suggested that further reduction of wages would be difficult and will increase the number of poor workers, calling for more actions to be taken to increase competitiveness in product markets and promote policies in the labor market that facilitate the movement of workers between employment sectors.
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