Updated
Updated · Kathimerini English Edition · Aug 1
Greece Jobless Rate Falls to 8% in June as Youth Unemployment Climbs to 19.5%
Updated
Updated · Kathimerini English Edition · Aug 1

Greece Jobless Rate Falls to 8% in June as Youth Unemployment Climbs to 19.5%

3 articles · Updated · Kathimerini English Edition · Aug 1

Summary

  • 8% unemployment in June marked Greece’s lowest rate in decades, down from 9.2% a year earlier even as it ticked up from 7.8% in May.
  • Strong hiring in industry, construction, retail and tourism kept labor demand above supply, suggesting the long decline in joblessness is stabilizing rather than reversing.
  • 19.5% youth unemployment underscored a growing gap for younger workers, while IOBE warned Greece still has a high share of 15-29 year-olds outside work, education or training.
  • Further gains are expected to depend less on basic job creation and more on structural reforms—higher-value investment, tighter education-to-work links and tax policies that support better-paid jobs.

Insights

Greece's unemployment just hit a decades-low 8%, but why are nearly a fifth of its youth still entirely shut out of the workforce?
Could the very tourism industry saving Greece's economy be trapping its university graduates in a cycle of low-paid, seasonal underemployment?