On 3 November 2023, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) announced the seasonally adjusted estimates of employment and unemployment for September 2023. For the first time after 14 entire years, in September 2023 the unemployment rate in Greece fell to 10.0%, i.e. to rates that were valid before the crisis and specifically in September 2009, when it had reached 10.1%.
The number of unemployed persons amounted to 467,804, decreased by 104,240 persons as compared with September 2022 (-18.2%) and by 24,549 persons compared with August 2023 (-5.0%)
Unemployment among men reached 8%, while among women it reached 12.4%. The corresponding percentages in 2018 were 15.2% and 24.2%. Unemployment among young people aged 15-24 remains at the high levels of 19.4%, however, marking a leaps and bounds improvement, in proportion to the corresponding percentage of 2018, where youth unemployment was at 39.9%.
The number of persons outside the labour force, i.e., persons under the age of 75, that neither work nor look for a job, amounted to 3,100,098, increased by 4,184 persons as compared with September 2022 (0.1%) and decreased by 32,923 persons compared with August 2023 (-1.1%).
In terms of employment, the number of people employed in September 2023 amounts to 4.226 million people, compared to 4.546 million in September 2009, that is significantly reduced by about 320,000.
As noted in Kathimerini newspaper reportage https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1224026/jobless-rate-at-14-year-low/, this element shows that although unemployment has fallen to pre-crisis levels, the effects of the country’s bankruptcy in the labour market are still evident. Tens of thousands of workers, most of them highly qualified and skilled, left the Greek labour market and have not returned, since the majority of new jobs (seasonal, part-time) and wages are not competitive with those they found abroad . This adds to the aging population and the traditionally low employment of women, and undermines long-term growth prospects, public revenue and the income of the insurance system, since fewer people in work pay less tax and less social security contributions.
Hellenic Statistical Authority: Labour Force Survey, September 2023 https://www.statistics.gr/en/statistics/-/publication/SJO02/
