ATHENS — The unemployment rate in Greece was 16.8 pct of the workforce in July this year, from 18 pct in June and 17.1 pct in July 2019, Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Thursday. The statistics service, in a monthly report, said that the number of unemployed people totaled 773,641 in July, down 3.9 pct from July 2019 and down 8.2 pct from June 2020. It also noted that measures taken to protect enterprises and workers from the pandemic crisis affected the labour market. More specifically, unemployment grew in the 15-44 age group, while unemployment in Crete almost doubled, reflecting a hit on tourism.

The number of employed people totaled 3,844,311 in July, down 1.7 pct from July last year and up 0.3 pct from June. The unemployment rate among women was 20.2 pct in July from 21.3 pct in July 2019, while among men it rose slightly to 14 pct from 13.7 pct, respectively.

The 15-24 age group recorded the highest unemployment rate (37.8 pct from 34 pct last year), followed by the 25-34 age group (24.1 pct from 23 pct), the 35-44 age group (16 pct from 14.6 pct), the 55-64 age group (13.1 pct from 14.3 pct), the 45-64 age group (12.5 pct from 14.3 pct) and the 65-74 age group (9.1 pct from 9.4 pct).

Among the country's regions, Crete recorded the highest unemployment rate (20.9 pct from 10.9 pct in July 2019), followed by Epirus-West Macedonia (20.2 pct from 20.1 pct), Aegean (19.6 pct from 14.8 pct), Peloponnese-Western Greece-Ionian Islands (19.6 pct from 17.1 pct), Macedonia-Thrace (18.8 pct from 18.7 pct), Thessaly-Central Greece (18.7 pct from 17.1 pct) and Attica (13.4 pct from 16.8 pct).