Greek jobless figure hits 27%

UNEMPLOYMENT in Greece rose to a record level of 27 per cent in November, with experts predicting a third of the population would be living in poverty by the end of this year.

The Statistics Agency in Athens said joblessness surged by almost 6 per cent between last October and November, from 20.8 per cent to 26.6 per cent, with 30,000 people losing their job in the space of a month.

Young people are the worst affected by the continuing recession in Greece, worsened by austerity cuts to meet conditions for international bail-out loans. Almost two-thirds (61.7 per cent) of Greeks aged 15-24 are jobless.