The barrage of positive news from key economic indicators confirms the dynamic growth of the Greek economy, which “ran” at a rate of 2.1% in the first quarter of the year. These are strong indicators predicting the continuation of the high rate of GDP growth in the second quarter of the year. A big “thorn”, however, remains the lack of workers in the main sectors of the economy, with tourism and restaurants at the forefront.
In the first quarter of the year, according to ELSTAT data, the vacancies jumped 115.6% to 70,826 from 32,850 in the corresponding quarter last year, a drag on the economy.
Under the weight of this unfavorable development, the government is considering measures also related to unemployment benefits to strengthen the incentives to find work. It is expected to be related to the unemployment allowance and the seasonal employment allowance received by tourism and catering workers.
The economic indicators
The elements that make up the positive picture for the Greek economy are the following:
- Investments returned in the first quarter of the year, showing a growth of 2.9% after a fall of 5.7% in the last quarter of last year.
- The construction output index increased by 5% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. At the same time, private construction activity saw an explosive increase of 77.8% in February (on an annual basis) and 44.4% in the first two months of the year compared to the corresponding one in 2023.
- The turnover of businesses in the entire economy increased by 16.1% in April on an annual basis. The biggest increase of 49.7% was recorded in the turnover of the Construction sector, followed by Mines-Quarries with an increase of 34.9%, Wholesale-Retail trade with 18.7%, Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities with 26.6%.
- The improvement in the economic climate in May, based on the IOBE index, is due to the increase in Industry, Construction and Retail Trade, while there is a slight decrease in consumer confidence. In particular, there was an increase in the expectations of the Industry, to 109.2 points in May, from 108.7 points last month, higher than a year ago (105.1 points).
- The remarkable increase in wages and salaries in the main sectors of the economy, recorded in ELSTAT data. Specifically on an annual basis in the first quarter of this year there was an increase of 24.6% in Construction, 22.3% in Administrative and Support Activities, 16.8% in Professional, Scientific and Technical activities, 15.8% in Wholesale and Retail trade, 12. 9% in Manufacturing, 16% in Transportation and Storage.
Lack of workers
On the other hand, however, the lack of workers in the main sectors of the economy and especially in tourism and catering is increasing every year. The government is therefore considering measures that will remove disincentives to offer employment in these sectors while also calling on businesses in the wider tourism sector to pay their workers. Government interventions were announced by the prime minister in an interview on Monday, emphasizing that the unemployment benefit should not be a disincentive to work. The mark of the changes was given by the head of the economic office of the prime minister, Alexis Patelis, who said that the unemployment benefit should be linked to the amount of salary and the length of service, ie the years of employee insurance. Regarding the seasonal allowance given to tourism and catering workers, he stated that it is a disincentive to look for a job.