Subject: Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-09 From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" CONTENTS [01] Greek unemployment rate unchanged at 23.1 pct in December [02] Scrabble tournament in Thessaloniki [03] Foreign Ministry announcement on a Turkish Foreign Ministry announcement that refers to statements made by the President of the [04] Two metro stations closed on Saturday and Sunday --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [01] Greek unemployment rate unchanged at 23.1 pct in December Greek unemployment rate fell to 23.1 pct of the workforce in December 2016, from 24.1 pct in the same month in 2015, but remained unchanged from November 2016 (figure revised upwards to 23.1 pct), Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Thursday. The statistics service, in a report, said that the number of unemployed people totaled 1,100,640, with the biggest problems located in young people and people above 50 years, while unemployment rose by 5.1 points in the Aegean. The number of unemployed people fell by 60,486 compared with December 2015 (a decline of 5.2 pct) and by 2,264 compared with November 2016 (a decline of 0.2 pct). The number of people at work was 3,659,762, up 10,846 compared with December 2015 (an increase of 0.3 pct) and down 12,775 compared with November 2016 (down 0.3 pct). The economically non-active part of the population (out of work and not seeking job) was 3,269,742 in December, up 13,179 from December 2015 (an increase of 0.4 pct) and up 8,961 from November 2016 (an increase of 0.3 pct). Unemployment among women was 27.6 pct in December from 28.2 pct in 2015, while among men it was 19.5 pct from 20.9 pct, respectively. The 15-24 age group recorded the highest unemployment rate (45.2 pct in December 2016 from 50.1 pct in December 2015), followed by the 24-34 age group (30.2 pct, 30.5 pct), the 35-44 age group (20 pct, 20.7 pct), the 55-64 age group (19.4 pct, 19.1 pct), the 45-54 age group (18.8 pct, 19.7 pct) and the 65-74 age group (13.2 pct, 11.5 pct). Among the country's regions, Epirus-Western Macedonia recorded the highest unemployment rate (26.8 pct in Decembe 2016 from 28.3 pct in December 2015), Peloponese-Western Greece-Ionian Islands (23.9 pct, 23.3 pct), Thessaly-Central Greece (23.7 pct, 27.5 pct), Macedonia-Thrace (23.7 pct, 24.6 pct), Crete (23.5 pct, 24.5 pct), Attica (22.9 pct, 23.5 pct) and Aegean (19.5 pct, 14.4 pct). [02] Scrabble tournament in Thessaloniki Word makers from all over Greece will gather on 11 and 12 March in Thessaloniki to participate in the Scrabble tournament organised for 11th consecutive year the Scrabble Club of Thessaloniki. The tournament will be held at the Café Roof Garden of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki students club. The games will start at 10:30 on Saturday and will end on Sunday at 14:00 with a goodbye lunch and the award ceremony to all categories. [03] Foreign Ministry announcement on a Turkish Foreign Ministry announcement that refers to statements made by the President of the Hellenic Republic on the Aegean Knowing international law means, above all, respecting it and not violating it, stated a Foreign Ministry announcement on Thursday on a Turkish Foreign Ministry announcement referring to Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos statements on the Aegean. [04] Two metro stations closed on Saturday and Sunday The metro station Anthoupolis of line 2 and Egaleo of line 3 will be closed on Saturday and Sunday due to technical work for the installation of the new automatic ticket checkers. Anthoupoli station will be also closed on Monday. During the works trains will pass through the above stations without stopping.