- Platon Monokroussos, head of financial market research at Eurobank Ergasias SA
Unemployment in Greece soared to a new record in July, a sign nation's five-year recession deepened. The Athens-based Hellenic Statistical Authority said more than a quarter of workforce is now out of job, with total 1.26 million Greeks being unemployed. The level of unemployment among young people jumped to 54.2%, while more than 1,000 jobs are lost every day.
"The unemployment rate is a lagging indicator of domestic economic activity," said Platon Monokroussos, head of financial market research at Eurobank Ergasias SA in Athens. "One should expect a further increase in the jobless rate for as long as domestic economic conditions remain depressed."
"What Greece has been doing in terms of budgetary adjustment is of a historic nature," European Commission President Jose Barroso said today in Brussels. "To have Greece in the euro, I think, is critically important, not only for Greece but also for the euro area."
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.79 per cent to 270.84. Germany's DAX Index jumped 1.06 per cent to 7,281.70 and France's CAC 40 Index gained 1.42 per cent to 3,413.72.
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