Greek unemployment rate falls to 11.9%, EU average remains at historic low

With the Greek unemployment rate falling to 11.9% in February from 12.8% in January, the European Union's unemployment rate also remained at a historic low, Eurostat said on Thursday.

The EU executive's statistics agency also said that the unemployment rate in the Eurozone and the EU remained at historic low levels in February, at 6.8% and 6.2%, respectively

Eurostat said that 13.267 million men and women were unemployed in the EU, of which 11.155 million in the Eurozone in February.

Spain (12.6%), Greece (11.9%) and Italy (8.5%) recorded the highest unemployment rates, while the Czech Republic (2.4%), Poland (3%) and Germany (3.1%) the lowest rates.

The unemployment rate among young people (aged below 25 years) was 14% in the Eurozone, led by Greece (33.1%) and Spain (29.7%).

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Elsewhere, the war in Ukraine will cost the Greek economy 1 percentage point of growth at the very least, Alternate Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis predicted while addressing the OT Forum on Wednesday.

He also noted that the maximum cost cannot be precisely calculated because no one knows when the hostilities will end. Skylakakis suggested that the discussion on the economic relations between the West and Russia could last a long time.

The minister noted that the threat of a war in Ukraine in 2021 had led to a dampening of GDP growth by 0.3 pct, which meant that the annual GDP growth rate could have been around 8.6-8.7 pct instead of 8.3 percent in that year.

Skylakakis also referred to the increase of uncertainty in the economy, which created a fragile environment due to the war.

The repercussions on tourism were as yet unknown, he added, while the investment climate may also be affected, though this is not yet apparent for the time being.

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