Outside the Beltway

Outside the Beltway

Unemployment in Greece

Steven L. Taylor
7

Via the BBC:  Greece jobless rate hits new record of 28%

The jobless rate in Greece reached a record high of 28% in November, according to newly released government figures.

The rate increased from 27.7% in the previous month. For those under the age of 25, unemployment hit 61.4%.

Harsh austerity measures have led the Greek economy to shrink by a quarter in four years.

[…]

Greek unemployment is more than twice the average rate in the eurozone.

[…]

Greece’s unemployment rate is expected to rise further in the first three months of 2014 as firms continue to restructure and cut jobs.

The report does note the following:

Slight growth is expected this year and the deficit now wiped out, apart from interest payments on the bailout.

Sobering:

Before the crash when Greece was growing at up to 5% annually, about 50,000 jobs a year were added to the economy.

At these rates it could take more than 20 years to reduce the jobless totals – without measures to encourage domestic and foreign investment

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7 responses to “Unemployment in Greece”

  1. OzarkHillbilly Avatar
    OzarkHillbilly

    They no longer have political arguments in Greece. Now they have political gun fights. No wonder.

  2. James Pearce Avatar
    James Pearce

    A lost two decades???

  3. al-Ameda Avatar
    al-Ameda

    Harsh austerity measures have led the Greek economy to shrink by a quarter in four years.

    America is not Greece, thank god.

    And Thank god conservatives did not prevail in their repeated attempts to inflict a regimen of austerity on the American economy in the years following the financial catastrophe of 2008.

  4. superdestroyer Avatar
    superdestroyer

    Greece has defaulted on its debt multiple times. There is no reason to believe that it can sustain a higher employment by borrowing money because who would be stupid enough to loan such an incompetent government anything. Also, Greece is famous for its tax cheating. Any country that massively cheats on its taxes can have no other policy but austerity.

    The question for the U.S. is whether tax cheating is increase in the future as the U.S. becomes a one party state, taxes go much higher, and the country becomes more diverse.

  5. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    @al-Ameda: Agree. But while the GOPs did not fully prevail, they certainly did impose a significant level of austerity. I’m mostly thinking of the large cuts in state employment often mentioned in these threads. They have a lot to answer for. But I doubt the electorate will ever hold them accountable.

  6. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    @superdestroyer: I realize I’m wasting my time here, but the US has the same problem with Mississippi that the EU has with Greece. The difference is that we solve that problem by GIVING Mississippi a great deal of money every year.

  7. superdestroyer Avatar
    superdestroyer

    @gVOR08:

    Actually Florida is the worst consumer of tax dollars due to the large number of retirees. However, if Florida was its own country, it would not have the same economic conditions that exist now as a state. To say that Greece is the same as Mississippi is to miss the point that Mississippi has the largest percentage of blacks of any state. Also, I doubt if Mississippi is as corrupt and clannish as Greece.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_taxation_and_spending_by_state

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