ATHENS — The Greek unemployment rate eased to 16.3 pct of the workforce in March from 16.6 pct in February, but edged up from 16.1 pct in March 2020, Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Friday.

The statistics service, in a monthly report, said that the Greek labour market was affected by the implementation of special operation regulations for enterprises and by the implementation of restrictive measures to protect public health and to deal with the coronavirus pandemic around the country.

The number of employed people totaled 3,679,530 in March, down 217,335 from March 2020 (-5.6 pct) and down 13,614 compared with February 2021 (-2.5 pct). The number of unemployed people totaled 714,779 in March, down 32,081 (-4.3 pct) from March 2020, or down 18,384 (-2.5 pct) compared with February 2021.

The number of people outside the labour market was 3,477,133 in March, up 6.7 pct from March 2020 and down 0.9 pct from February 2021.