Employment in Greece’s private sector grew in July, with the balance between new hiring and dismissals/retirements turning positive by 67,913 job positions, “Ergani” IT system data showed in a report on Friday.
Wage employment flows in July recorded new hirings of 306,808 and 238,897 dismissals/retirements.
In comparison with July 2019, the wage employment flows showed 82,602 more job positions in July 2020 after a negative balance of -14.691 in July 2019, the highest ever recorded performance in the month since 2001.
Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said the July figures were boosted because of a delayed opening of the tourism industry in Greece.
Professions that boosted employment in July were the ones of waiters and bartenders.
However, the figures released by the Ergani system do not mean much for the course of the employment this year. And this is because these are seasonal jobs, the tourism sector is not doing as well as it was hoped for, the upcoming fall and winter may turn very difficult for the labor market due to the pandemic.
In January-July there were 170,470 fewer jobs created than in the same months of 2019.
It is estimated that unemployment in 2020 will be as bad as in 2013.
