Greek unemployment jumped to 12.2 pct in August this year, with the number of unemployed people totaling 614,108, Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Thursday.

The number of unemployed people rose by 160,402 compared with August 2009, an increase of 35.4 pct, while compared with July the number of unemployed people rose by 6,073, or 1.0 pct. The unemployment rate in August was the highest since January 2007, when the rate was 11.8 pct.

The August figure surpassed the new budget's provision of 11.6 pct this year. Based on the 2011 budget draft plan, the unemployment rate will reach 14.5 pct in 2011, 15 pct in 2012 and 14.6 pct in 2013 as a result of the economic recession.

The statistics service said the number of employed people totaled 4,398,890 in August, while the financially non-active population totaled 4,98,958. The number of employed people fell by 165,356 in August compared with the same month in 2009 (a decline of 3.6 pct) and by 40,406 compared with July 2010 (a decline of 0.9 pct).

Unemployment is hitting harder young people, with the 15-24 age group recording an unemployment rate of 30.8 pct, followed by the 25-34 group with 16.4 pct. Women also suffer most than men (15.5 pct and 9.9 pct, respectively).

Western Macedonia (13.9 pct), Eastern Macedonia-Thrace (13.5 pct), Central Macedonia (13.5 pct), Thessaly (13.1 pct), Attica (12.9 pct) and Central Greece (12.6 pct) recorded the highest unemployment rates among the country's regions, with Ionian Islands (5.6 pct), Southern Aegean (5.9 pct) and Northern Aegean (6.9 pct) recording single-digit unemploy-ment rates. Crete, where tourism fell this year, recorded a sharp increase in unemployment (11.2 pct from 6.3 pct in August 2009).