Greece : Unemployment steady at 23.5 pct in May

ATHENS : Greece’s jobless rate was steady at 23.5 percent in May from an upwardly revised figure in the previous month, statistics agency ELSTAT said on Thursday.

The number of officially unemployed reached 1.123 million people. Hardest hit were young people aged 15 to 24 years, with their jobless rate rising to 50.3 percent from 50 percent in the same month a year earlier.

The reading in May, based on seasonally adjusted data, was the lowest since April 2012 when unemployment stood at similar levels. The jobless rate hit a record high of 27.9 percent in September 2013.

Unemployment has come down from record highs but remains more than double the euro zone’s average of 10.1 percent in May.

Greece’s economy contracted 0.5 percent in January-to-March and is expected to remain in recession this year as the country feels the full brunt of austerity measures approved under its international bailout.