Greece’s unemployment soars, France posts 10% jobless rate

PanARMENIAN.Net - Greece's unemployment rate shot up to 21.9% in March, rising sharply from the 15.7% rate in the same month last year and up from 21.4% in February, the country's statistics agency said, according to The Telegraph.

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 10% in the first quarter, up from 9.8% in the previous three months, Bloomberg said.

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.

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 2.1% increase.