ATHENS — The Greek unemployment rate rose to 18.3 pct of the workforce in June, from 17.1 pct in June 2019 and 17.3 pct in May 2020, Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Thursday. The biggest percentage increases were recorded in the country's main tourist areas, such as Crete and the Aegean.

More specifically, the number of unemployed people totaled 836,637 in June, up 27,091 compared with June 2019 (an increase of 3.3 pct) and up 58,146 compared with May (an increase of 7.5 pct). The number of employed people totaled 3,744,630, down 4.4 pct from June 2019 and up 0.3 pct from May 2020. The unemployment rate among women eased to 21.1 pct in June from 21.3 pct in June 2019, but still remained higher compared with men (16.1 pct from 13.8 pct). The 15-24 age group recorded the highest unemployment rate (39.3 pct in June from 34.4 pct in June 2019), followed by the 25-34 age group (23.7 pct from 23 pct), the 35-44 age group (16.3 pct from 14.8 pct), the 45-54 age group (14.5 pct from 14.3 pct), the 55-64 age group (13.5 pct from 13.3 pct) and the 65-74 age group (7.1 pct from 10.5 pct).

Among the country's regions, Aegean (28.6 pct from 13.8 pct in June 2019) recorded the highest unemployment rate, followed by Crete (20.9 pct from 11.4 pct), Macedonia-Thrace (20.5 pct from 18.7 pct), Thessaly-Central Greece (19.5 pct from 17.1 pct), Peloponnese-Western Greece-Ionian Islands (18.8 pct from 17.6 pct), Epirus-Western Macedonia (18.4 pct from 19.8 pct) and Attica (14 pct from 16.8 pct).