Greece’s Labor Market Trends; Job Vacancies Surge

Alpha Bank’s weekly economic bulletin delves into Greece’s market, analyzing its dynamics in relation to job vacancies, emphasizing sectors with the highest percentages, such as tourism and construction industries.

Analysts have observed ongoing improvements in the labor market, including a decline in seasonally adjusted unemployment rates approaching pre-crisis levels, accompanied by an increase in employment.

Moreover, the “slack” in the labor market, reflecting underutilization of human capital, has shown significant improvement across Eurozone countries over the past three years, albeit remaining higher than average.

In May 2024, the unemployment rate continued its downward trajectory, settling at 10.6%, nearly reverting to December 2009 levels of 10.5%. However, it’s noteworthy that the pace of decline in unemployment has slowed since early last year, compared to the sharper decrease seen from mid-2021 to early 2023.

Alongside these positive labor market developments, there has been a notable surge in job vacancies since 2022. According to the latest data from Greece’s Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), job openings soared to a record high of 70,826 positions in the first quarter of 2024, marking a remarkable 115.6% annual increase.

The vacancy rate also rose to 3.1%, more than doubling from 1.5% in the same period of 2023. Greece’s rising job vacancy rate in recent quarters contrasts sharply with the declining trend observed across the majority of EU-27 member states.

During the first quarter of 2024, the highest job vacancy rates were observed in the accommodation and food services sector (18.4%), arts sector (9.6%), real estate management (7.3%), water supply (6.8%), and construction (6.5%).

Notably, the job vacancy rate in the accommodation and food services sector is the highest in the EU-27, followed by that of the Czech Republic (8.1%). In Mediterranean countries where tourism plays a crucial role in the economy, vacancy rates are significantly lower (Spain: 0.5%, France: 4.9%, Italy: 5.3%, Portugal: 1.7%, Croatia: 4.9%, and Cyprus: 7.8%).

Additionally, vacancy rates in real estate management and construction sectors rank as the second and fourth highest, respectively, within the EU-27.

Source: tovima.com