Greek unemployment hits 26.4% in December

ATHENS - Agence France-Presse

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Greek unemployment climbed to 26.4 percent of the workforce in December with more than half of those under the age of 25 now out of work, according to data released on Thursday.
 
The rate represented a jump from 21.4 percent a year earlier, the figures from the national statistics authority Ase showed.
 
A breakdown of the numbers put the highest rate at 57.5 percent for workers below the age of 25, and showed that women were more likely to be unemployed than men with rates of 29.3 percent and 24.3 percent respectively.
 
The labour market has been hit by austerity measures aimed at cutting the massive Greek debt, and the economy has been in recession since 2008.
 
Business activity has contracted by 22 percent since then.