Greek unemployment above 16 pct as austerity bites

[June 08, 2011]  ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's statistical agency says unemployment in the debt-ridden country rose to 16.2 percent in March, with the number of jobless up a massive 40 percent from a year earlier.

The agency said in figures released Wednesday that the unemployment rate had increased from a 15.9 percent rate in February.

The total number of Greeks out of work stood at 811,340 in March this year, compared with 578,723, or 11.6 percent, in March 2010.

Greece has imposed strict austerity measures to meet the terms of a euro110 billion ($161 billion) international bailout, but they have not been enough and the government is introducing more spending cuts and tax hikes.

[Associated Press]

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