Eurozone unemployment marched higher on Thursday as Greek joblessness reached a new record and France's jobless rate hit the psychologically damaging 10pc mark.
Greece's unemployment rate shot up to 21.9pc in March, rising sharply from the 15.7pc rate in the same month last year and up from 21.4pc in February, the country's statistics agency said.
Almost 1.8m people were registered as unemployed in the nation of 11.3m, according to Greece's Ase statistics agency.
Elsewhere in the crisis-hit eurozone, France's unemployment rate rose to about 10pc in the first quarter, up from 9.8pc in the previous three months, according to Bloomberg.
French companies cut jobs in the face of faltering economic growth, statistics from Paris' Insee showed on Thursday, presenting newly elected President Francois Hollande with a fresh challenge.
Some of France's largest companies, including Air France, Peugeot and Carrefour SA have been looking to reduce costs, leading labour unions to urge Mr Hollande to make good on a campaign to prevent a wave of firings.
“The labour market is still fundamentally very weak,” said Dominique Barbet, an economist at BNP Paribas in Paris.
Bernard Thibault, leader of France’s CGT union, estimated last week that 45,000 French jobs are at risk in the coming months.
French jobless claims rose for a 12th month in April, with the number of people actively looking for work rising by 4,300 to 2.89m, the Labor Ministry said last month.
Greece's unemployment rate soared further in March to a new record, following deep spending cuts and major tax rises, leaving the country mired in a deep recession.
Greece has been struggling through a financial crisis for the past two years, and has been relying on billions of euros in international rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010.
The Greek statistics agency said there were 21,625 more people unemployed in March compared with February, a 2.1pc increase.
Young people have been the most affected by the job losses, with more than half – 52.8pc – of those in the 15-24 age group out of work in March, compared to 42pc in the same month last year.
The figure dropped slightly from February, but experts said some of those classed as unemployed will be in full-time education. Women have been hit harder by unemployment, with 25.8pc unemployed opposed to 18.9pc for men.
Greece's financial crisis has also triggered political turmoil. Voters furious at spending cuts that have led to reductions in pensions and salaries and ever increasing taxes punished the two main political parties, the New Democracy conservatives and socialist Pasok, in May 6 elections, turning to smaller and more radical parties on the right and left of the political spectrum.
No party won an outright majority on May 6 and coalition talks collapsed after 10 days, forcing the country into new elections on June 17.
New Democracy has been running head-to-head with the radical left-wing Syriza party in recent opinion polls. Syrisza has vowed to pull Greece out of its bailout commitments if elected.
telegraph.co.uk
Greece's unemployment rate shot up to 21.9pc in March, rising sharply from the 15.7pc rate in the same month last year and up from 21.4pc in February, the country's statistics agency said.
Almost 1.8m people were registered as unemployed in the nation of 11.3m, according to Greece's Ase statistics agency.
Elsewhere in the crisis-hit eurozone, France's unemployment rate rose to about 10pc in the first quarter, up from 9.8pc in the previous three months, according to Bloomberg.
French companies cut jobs in the face of faltering economic growth, statistics from Paris' Insee showed on Thursday, presenting newly elected President Francois Hollande with a fresh challenge.
Some of France's largest companies, including Air France, Peugeot and Carrefour SA have been looking to reduce costs, leading labour unions to urge Mr Hollande to make good on a campaign to prevent a wave of firings.
“The labour market is still fundamentally very weak,” said Dominique Barbet, an economist at BNP Paribas in Paris.
Bernard Thibault, leader of France’s CGT union, estimated last week that 45,000 French jobs are at risk in the coming months.
French jobless claims rose for a 12th month in April, with the number of people actively looking for work rising by 4,300 to 2.89m, the Labor Ministry said last month.
Greece's unemployment rate soared further in March to a new record, following deep spending cuts and major tax rises, leaving the country mired in a deep recession.
Greece has been struggling through a financial crisis for the past two years, and has been relying on billions of euros in international rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010.
The Greek statistics agency said there were 21,625 more people unemployed in March compared with February, a 2.1pc increase.
Young people have been the most affected by the job losses, with more than half – 52.8pc – of those in the 15-24 age group out of work in March, compared to 42pc in the same month last year.
The figure dropped slightly from February, but experts said some of those classed as unemployed will be in full-time education. Women have been hit harder by unemployment, with 25.8pc unemployed opposed to 18.9pc for men.
Greece's financial crisis has also triggered political turmoil. Voters furious at spending cuts that have led to reductions in pensions and salaries and ever increasing taxes punished the two main political parties, the New Democracy conservatives and socialist Pasok, in May 6 elections, turning to smaller and more radical parties on the right and left of the political spectrum.
No party won an outright majority on May 6 and coalition talks collapsed after 10 days, forcing the country into new elections on June 17.
New Democracy has been running head-to-head with the radical left-wing Syriza party in recent opinion polls. Syrisza has vowed to pull Greece out of its bailout commitments if elected.
telegraph.co.uk
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