By N. Bellos
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The issue of employment in Greece – and its opposite expression, unemployment -suddenly shot to the political limelight in the country this week, particularly after comments on Monday by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who referred to a “significant” decrease in joblessness and even an increase in averages salaries.
Tsipras’ high-profile comments, made during a briefing at the labor ministry, immediately generated a firestorm of reaction by the opposition. The leftist Greek premier was quoted as saying that the unemployment rate in Greece has fallen 2.5 percentage points as a result of higher growth rates in still bailout-dependent country. Greece is expected to return to GDP growth in 2017, although the latest forecasts have been revised downwards, under 2 percent of GDP.
While employment rates are steadily improving in the EU and Euro zone, which according to the latest figures are returning to 2008 levels, this auspicious development appears to have bypassed Greece in 2016. In fact, based on Eurostat figures, Greece posted the worst showing amongst Euro zone member-states in 2016.
In a report unveiled by the EU Commission on Monday, the Union’s executive said employment in Greece in 2016 was up by 1.3 percent, marginally less than the Euro zone average of 1.4 percent. The second worst performance in 2016 was posted by Spain, another southern EU state plagued by high jobless rates, although even there the employment rate increased by 3.2 percent, on an annual basis in 2016.
According to the Commission, the percentage of active people in the 20 to 64-year-old age group that were employed in 2016 reached 56.2 percent, significantly down from the 70-percent average in the Euro zone and 63.9 percent in Spain.
The jobless rate in Greece for 2016, according from official statistics and not taking into account people who have abandoned the job market, is 23.6 percent of the active population; 10 percent is the Euro zone average.
Spain, who is one place from the bottom, shows a 19.6 percent unemployment figure for the active population in that country.
Just as ominously, Greece had the worst performance in 2016 in terms of long-term unemployed, more than 12 months.
