ATHENS, Greece -- Unemployment in Greece rose to a new
record high of 27.6 percent in May, leaving almost two thirds of young people
without a job, the Hellenic Statistics Authority said on Thursday.
The jobless rate rose from 27 percent in April and 23.8 percent
in May last year. Young people were by far the worst affected, with
unemployment among job-seekers aged 15 to 24 standing at 64.9 percent.
Greece has been depending on funds from international rescue
loans since May 2010, after years of profligate spending and fiscal
mismanagement left it with a massive budget deficit.
In return, successive governments have imposed stringent
austerity measures, including tax hikes and salary and pension cuts that have
caused the economy to contract. The country is currently in the sixth year of a
deep recession.
The country's bailout from the International Monetary Fund
and other European countries that use the euro as their currency is delivered
in installments, and Greece's finances are inspected by its creditors before
each disbursement.
The latest measures Greece must push through include the
firing of thousands of civil servants.
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