Greek Youth Unemployment Soars To Record 65%

What little hope there may have been that bad and/or deteriorating Greek economic data had peaked in the early part of 2013 and the country was set for a long overdue "recovery" was promptly extinguished following today's latest release of the Greek May labor force survey.

The headline news for the broader population was ugly:

The number of employed was 3,621,153, a decline of 14,889 from April, and down 171,356 from a year earlier

The number of unemployed was a record high 1,381,088, an increase of 43,467 from April, and up 193,668 from a year earlier

The unemployment rate was a record high 27.6%, up from 26.9% in April and 23.8% a year earlier

But that was the "good" news. Read more >>

Greek Unemployment Soars To New Record, 56% Of 15-24 Year Olds Without Job

Judging by ongoing momentum moves in various European stock and bond market indicators, one could be left with the impression that something in the continent is actually improving.

And while hope of improvement is certainly be high, the reality is vastly different as confirmed by the just released Greek unemployment data, which saw the broad unemployment rate soar to a fresh record high of 26.8% in October (24.1% males, 30.4% females - that's nearly one in three), up from a pre-revision 26.0% in September, and up from 19.7% a year ago, the youth (15-24 age group) unemployment rising again to a new all time high of 56.6% (up from 56.4%), and the ratio of those employed (3.68MM) to unemployed (1.34MM) plunging to a record low 2.75x.

At this rate it may well hit 1.00x quite soon. But even sooner, perhaps in a few months, the total number of inactive workers (3.34MM) will surpass all those who are working. In short, the Greek collapse is just getting worse and worse. Read more >>

Thousands protest in Athens anti-austerity rally

Thousands of Greek protesters have responded to their leader's plans for austerity measures by gathering in Athens for an anti-austerity rally. Some of the demonstrators pelted riot police with petrol bombs, bottles and pieces of marble. The protest in the capital is part of a nation-wide strike that has shut down rail service, grounded flights and closed schools. Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane reports from Athens.

Greek Trader Explains Why The Country Is Heading For Rebellion

A trader in Greece gives Business Insider a grim assessment of the mood in the country right now. Right now, I am afraid there is very little visibility regarding the political developments in the next few months. You might as well toss a coin. At some point, however, I believe we shall reach some kind of 'social tipping point' regarding the ability of the Greek households and society to absorb more austerity measures, the consequential continuing steep decline in economic activity and ever rising unemployment. The result may well be social rebellion, maybe even civic mutiny and associated political and parliamentary instability.

This is the the game plan that the neo-communists of Syriza have been preparing for over the past year or so and the one that they have actually reinforced whenever and wherever that was possible. Unfortunately, I cannot see a 'good ending' scenario, under the present circumstances.

Now when this tipping point may be reached, is anybody's guess. It could very well be, as close as only a few months away. I do not believe that you can find anybody, within or outside Greece, that still sincerely and truly believes that the troika process of 'internal devaluation' shall lead to a positive socioeconomic outcome since no effective counter-balancing economic development measures and incentives were ever implemented, or even seriously considered. Read more >>

Greek Euro Exit Being Considered: Former PM Papademos

Lukas Papademos, Greek Prime Minister, at the European Council

Greece's financial stability fund approved an 18 billion euro ($23 billion) injection of capital into the country's four biggest banks on Tuesday and will release the funds on Wednesday, a fund official said. At the same time, news reports quoted former Greece Prime Minister Lucas Papademos as saying that preparations for the country's exit from the euro zone are being considered.

Papademos said such a move was unlikely to materialize but the risk is real. US stocks took a dive in the last hour of trading Tuesday, clipping a two-day rally, following the remarks from Papademos. The euro extended losses against the U.S. dollar to trade more than 1 percent lower in late afternoon trade on Tuesday, which traders attributed to Papademos' comments.

"Sentiment is heavily against the euro," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets, Woodcliff Lake in New Jersey. "Any negative comment from former or current Greek officials sends the euro plummeting. There were also stop-loss orders below $1.2700 which accelerated the move down." More...

Greece Retaliation Against Germany Escalates

Have we just crossed the historic Rubicon when a photoshopped classical statue is about to lead to a collapse in a monetary and customs union, and possibly something a tad more serious?

Also, is the KFW bailout rumor too little too late? It appears the Greeks are two minutes away from saying "take you bailout and shove it." The reason: The Focus cover which shows a status of Venus de Milo flipping off the Greeks, who were characterized as the "cheats of the eurozone."

After recent Greek media outbursts have recalled the Nazi wartime occupation of the country, as well as demands for WWII reparations, today's action by the Federation of Greek Consumers, calling for a boycott of products made by "banana-eating" Germans, is a direct response to the airbrushed statue of Venus expressing the communal German sentiment. Oh, and that whole KfW rumor? Don't buy it: "[KfW bond purchasing] considerations have been presented because it's seen as the only way of avoiding accusations of...direct aid," the lawmaker said. But he stressed that no decisions have yet been taken. I.e., More posturing. More...