ELSTAT - Unemployment Jumps To 27.4 pct in Sept.

(Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Unemployment in Greece shot up to 27.4% in the month of September from 26.0% in the corresponding period last year, and 27.3% in August, with the number of unemployed shooting to 1,376,463 million, the independent Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Wednesday.

Unemployment among youth up to 24 years of age dropped to 51.9% from 56.7% in September last year, while unemployment among women shot to 31.4% from 30.2%. Unemployment among men also increased to 24.5% from a previous 22.9% that was recorded in the same period in 2013.

By region, the highest unemployment was recorded in:

• Macedonia Thrace - 30.4%
• Epirus-Western Macedonia - 30.0%
• Attica - 27.9%
• Thessaly-Sterea - 26.3%
• Peloponnese-West.Greece-Ionian Islands - 25.6%
• Aegean islands - 21.5%
• Crete - 25.0%

Ages hardest hit was the 15-24 age bracket that jumped to 59.1% from 56.7% in September 2012, followed by the 25-34 age group with 36.8% (34.5% in September 2012), the 35-44 age bracket with 24.4% (22.3%), the 45-54 age group with 20.3% (19.9%), the 55-64 age bracket with 15.1% (13.8%) and the 65-74 age group with 9.0 percent (5.5%).