October jobs hit 15-year record low

Nearly 83,000 jobs were lost in the private sector in October 2016, according to data released by the Greek Labour Ministry. The data showed that over the month of October only 185,895 people were hired in the private sector compared to 268,705 who were rendered unemployed. In comparison, 56,473 jobs were lost in October 2015. Of the total hires in October, 53.8% were flexible job positions, 39.2% were part time, 14.40% casual and 45.78% were full-time employment. 4,274 job contracts were turned into part-time, while 1,711 were made into casual positions. In the first 10 months of the year the aggregate number of new jobs created stood at 162,795, of which the majority were part time employment positions. Reacting to the numbers, major opposition New Democracy spokesperson Yiannis Vroutsis said it was the worst October in job creation in history.