Unemployment

How strong is the Greek economy, really? Whatever may have been said, there are some safe criteria by which to assess its state. It is only as strong as the labor market, the jobs created and the wages offered. 

Unemployment in Bulgaria saw a slight uptick in January, with the registered rate climbing by 0.2% compared to December figures. According to data from the Employment Agency, the unemployment rate now stands at 5.8%.

Greece's Public Employment Service (DYPA) has launched a subsidy program to open up 1,300 jobs for long-term unemployed people aged between 55 and 74, the labor, interior and economics ministries announced on Monday.

The program will have a budget of €31.2 billion and span 24 months, aiming to create 1,300 new full-time jobs in the public healthcare sector. 

Türkiye's unemployment rate declined slightly from 8.9 percent in November to 8.8 percent in December 2023, the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

The number of jobless people fell by 12,000 from November to stand at 3 million in December.

The unemployment rate among men was 7.1 percent, while it was 12 percent among women, TÜİK said.

Almost four years have passed since Congress approved and Donald Trump signed a huge relief bill designed to limit the financial hardship created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The CARES Act did its job.

According to a report, released by Eurostat, Bulgaria's unemployment rate in December 2023 remained static at 4.3%, a marginal increase from the 4% reported in December 2022. Approximately 130,000 people were registered as unemployed during the period.

The decline of the unemployment rate in Greece to 9.2% in December 2023, three percentage points lower than in December 2022, was the topic that government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis chose to begin his press briefing on Monday, noting that 102,000 jobs have been created in the past year.

The third biggest concern was “economy and jobs”

Several major tech companies are reshaping their workforce dynamics at the beginning of 2024, with eBay becoming the latest to announce substantial layoffs. The decision to cut 1,000 jobs, despite the company's robust profits, adds to a growing list of tech giants implementing significant workforce reductions this January.

Registered unemployment totaled 1,039,752 in December, of which 501,089 (48.2%) were long-term unemployed, the Greek Public Employment Service (DYPA) said in a report on Friday. 

The number of men unemployed was 375,891 in December, while women totaled 663,861. 

The 30-44 age group recorded the largest number of unemployed (337,516, or 32.5% of the total).