As Greece tries to pay its massive debts and struggles with gross domestic product (GDP) contraction, employment continues to be a huge barrier to recovery. Elstat, the Greek economic agency, reported unemployment was 25.2% in June. Among people aged 15 to 24, the figure was 48.3%. No recovery can take hold with such horrible headwinds.

According to the agency:

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June 2015 was 25.2% compared to 26.6% in June 2014 and 25.0% in May 2015. The number of employed amounted to 3,584,973 persons. The number of unemployed amounted to 1,204,844 while the number of inactive to 3,298,166.

Also:

Inactive persons –that is, persons that neither worked neither looked for a job– decreased by 7.806 persons (a 0.2% rate of decrease) compared with June 2014 and increased by 41,158 persons compared with May 2015 (a 1.3% rate of increase).

The “inactive” number may say more about Greece’s labor problems than the core unemployment rate.

Greece has problems with the amount of taxes paid by its citizens. Part of that is unemployment, and another part cheating. Based on recent history, the country has been unable to do much about either. Even if the collection process can be improved, the solution to the jobs problem remains elusive.

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