Greece's Unemployment Breaks Record

Despite a rebound for tourism last summer, Greece's unemployment has hit a new record high of 27.8 percent for last October. The figures were released last Thursday by the Hellenic Statistical Authority. The General Confederation of Greek Workers, which represents private sector labour, believes that the nominal figures are an underestimation, and that the real figure is closer to 33 percent, because underemployment and salary arrears are not taken into account.

Despite Antonis Samaras' bullish predictions of an impending turnaround last spring, Greece's unemployment - the highest in Europe - has risen steadily for five years:

Greek Unemployment Oct. 2008 – Oct. 2013

October 2008	7.5%
October 2009	10%
October 2010	13.8%
October 2011	19.7%
October 2012	26.8%
October 2013	27.8%

(Source: Hellenic Statistical Authority)

See the Al Jazeera English report here.