Greece / Unemployment rate stable at 27.3 percent, ‘‘first sign of recovery’’ says the government

Greece’s recession eased in the third quarter while the unemployment rate stood at 27.3 percent in August, unchanged from the previous month, official data showed Thursday. The government described the stabilization in the job market as the ‘‘first sign of recovery.’’

The Greek Statistical Authority on Thursday said 88,242 more people were out of work over the year to August, bringing the total number of unemployed to 1.36 million. Youth unemployment has continued to rise, with the jobless rate for those under 25 reaching 60.6 percent, up from 58.2 percent a year earlier.

The economy contracted by 3 percent in the third quarter of the year, easing from 3.7 percent in April-June.

‘‘This is the first sign of recovery,’’ government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou told the AP, commenting on the national unemployment figures.

‘‘Our aim is to bring that unemployment down significantly next year, as the reforms we are currently implementing take hold.’’

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via Greece: Recession eases, jobless rate steady – Europe news – Boston.com.