ATHENS – Unemployment in Greece eased to 11.6 pct in the third quarter of 2022, down from 12.4 pct in the previous quarter (2022 Q2) and 13.0 pct in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (2021 Q3), according to the labour force suvey for the third quarter of 2022 issued by the independent statistics agency ELSTAT on Friday.

The number of unemployed persons amounted to 555,567, recording a decrease by 6.1 pct compared to the previous quarter and a decrease by 9.7 pct compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Roughly 350,000 of this number were long-term unemployed, however, who have been seeking and unable to find work for more than a year.

Percentage unemployment among women was 15.4 pct, while among men it was 8.7 pct. Unemployment remained highest in younger age groups, especially the 15-19 age group (40.2 pct) and 20-24 age group (27.6 pct).

The regions with the highest unemployment were Western Macedonia (19.1 pct) and Thessaly (17.2 pct), while the lowest rates were in the Ionian islands (7.3 pct) and South Aegean (5.1 pct) islands.

The number of persons employed in the third quarter of 2022 amounted to 4,216,038, recording an increase by 1.2 pct compared to the previous quarter and an increase by 2.4 pct compared to the same quarter of the previous year.