Greek unemployment hits 26% in fourth quarter

Greek unemployment surged to 26 percent of the workforce in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with 20.7 percent in the corresponding period a year earlier, the state statistics agency said on Thursday. The jobless rate was 24.8 percent in the third quarter, the national statistics authority Ase added in a statement. The number of unemployed in the last three months of the year amounted to 1,295,535 while 3,681,926 were registered as employed. A breakdown of the data showed that women were more likely to be unemployed, at a rate of 29.7 percent compared with 23.3 percent among men. The highest rate was registered for youths aged 15-24, at 57.8 percent, a level that climbed to 65 percent for young women. The heavily-indebted country has been in recession since 2008, with unemployment continuously on the rise. Dependent on international loans for its economic survival, Greece has had to accept harsh austerity measures in exchange for financial aid.