According to the monthly Labor Force Survey, seasonally adjusted unemployment in August reached 27.3 per cent, unchanged from July and up 1.8 per cent from the same time last year (August 2012: 25.5 per cent).
This translates into 1,365,406 unemployed individuals, 3,631,430 employed and 3,360,334 financially inactive.
While 9,777 people found a job compared to July 2013, another 6,557 lost theirs in the same period.
Labor Force Survey August 2013
Seasonally adjusted data means that influence of seasonal factors (like massive hirings in preparation for the tourist season or layoffs at the end of it) is removed, presenting a clearer view of employment trends. This is why, conclusions on whether tourism affected employment positively can be drawn by comparing August 2013 to the same month last year. And that conclusion is bleak.
Regarding the rate of change in unemployment data, in a press release, ELSTAT points out that looking at the last three months “we observe a stabilisation of the estiamated seasonally adjusted unemployment rate.”