Greece’s Unemployment Hits 18-Year Low at 7.9%
Greece's unemployment rate has dropped to 7.9%, its lowest point in 18 years, Labor Minister Niki Kerameos announced at the 57th Career Day job fair in Thessaloniki this week.
Kerameos told the two-day event at Thessaloniki's Pier C warehouse that the country's jobless rate has fallen from roughly 18% just a few years ago. She added that 563,000 people who were out of work in 2019 are now employed, marking a significant turnaround for an economy that was among the hardest hit in Europe after the debt crisis.
"Low unemployment is progress, but the government is still pushing for more jobs and better pay" — Kerameos
According to Eurostat data cited by the minister, Greece posted the third-highest employment growth rate in Europe, with an overall employment rate of 72.2%, the highest on record. Female employment also hit a historic high of 63.6%.
The Career Day itself broke its own records, with more than 100 companies offering over 2,500 positions across all education levels, with a particular focus on technical trades. Giana Chormova, head of the Public Employment Service, said past editions of the job fair have reliably led to actual hires, and the agency plans to expand its direct job-matching work going forward.
When pressed on whether this milestone means Greece's labor market problems are solved, Kerameos was direct: low unemployment is progress, but the government is still pushing for more jobs and better pay. She pointed to a further minimum wage increase announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Thessaloniki International Fair as part of the next phase of that push.
