Unemployment in Greece increased further in July, but at a slower pace than expected by economists, as economic activity continued to be hit by the ongoing recession.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate moved up to 27.6 percent in July from 27.5 percent in June, which was revised down from 27.9 percent, data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed Thursday.
Economists had forecast the jobless rate to rise to 28 percent. In July 2012, 25 percent of the country's workforce was unemployed.
The unemployment rate among youth, aged between 15 and 24, was 55.1 percent during the month. The figure was higher than 54.9 percent recorded in July last year.
There were around 1.37 million jobless persons in Greece at the end of July, which was slightly higher than the June level. Compared to July 2012, unemployment climbed 10.1 percent.
At the same time, the number of persons in employment declined 0.4 percent sequentially to 3.6 million. Year-on-year, employment decreased by 3.6 percent, data showed.
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