Unemployement Holds High Levels

The unemployment rate remained intact at 27.8% during the first three months of the year, data from the Greek statistics service (ELSTAT) show. That's the same level as during the final quarter of last year.

Some 1.34 million people were out of job during the reported period, out of who, a whooping 71% have faced long-term unemployment, meaning they have been unable to find a job for more than a year, the data specified. As for the whole of 2013, the gauge reached 27.3%, slightly lower than 24.2% booked in the previous year.

Earlier in the week, ELSTAT released a separate reading of March unemployment figures, that are calculated on a different basis. In this reading, the gauge edged down slightly to 26.8%, from 26.9% reported in February.

Among young Greeks aged between 15 and 24 years, it stood at a jaw-dropping 58.3%, down 1.4% year-on-year, but almost twice as much as four years ago, when it stood at 30.8%.

That said, the joblessness has been on a downward spiral since September 2013, when it booked an all-time high of 27.9%. Still, it remains well above than the euro area's average.