Greek March unemployment eases to 24.1pc

ATHENS: Greece's jobless rate eased to 24.1 percent in March from 24.2 percent in the previous month, statistics agency ELSTAT said on Thursday.

The number of officially unemployed reached 1.153 million people. Hardest hit were young people aged 15 to 24 years, though their jobless rate dropped to 50.4 percent from 52.1 percent in the same month a year earlier.

The reading in March, based on seasonally adjusted data, was the lowest since May 2012 when unemployment stood at 24.1 percent. The jobless rate hit a record high of 27.9 percent in September 2013.

Unemployment has come down from record highs but remains more than double the euro zone's average of 10.2 percent in March.

Greece's economy contracted 0.5 percent in January-to-March, at a slightly faster pace than previously estimated, weighed by weaker consumer spending and net exports.