Greece today: the minister's 7.4% jobless rate is August's, the 25 November strike widens, farm aid closes 16 October

Unemployment at 7.4%: the labour minister's figure is ELSTAT's rate for August 2026

Labour Minister Niki Kerameus said on Saturday 10 October 2026 that unemployment in Greece had fallen to 7.4%.²³ She was speaking in Athens at the 58th "Career Day" of ΔΥΠΑ (Δημόσια Υπηρεσία Απασχόλησης, Dimosia Ypiresia Apascholisis), the public employment service, where more than 140 companies offered more than 3,500 vacancies.²³

The 7.4% is the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August 2026 that ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi), the Hellenic Statistical Authority, published on 30 September 2026.¹ΕΛ Neither report of the minister's speech shows her naming the month or ELSTAT as the source.²³ By our reading, the 7.4% she quoted on 10 October 2026 describes August 2026, and ELSTAT had not yet published a rate for September 2026.¹²³

ELSTAT's unemployment rate for August 2026 was down from 8.8% in August 2025 and 7.9% in July 2026.¹ΕΛ ELSTAT counted 350,800 unemployed people in August 2026, which is 67,181 (16.1%) fewer than in August 2025.¹ It counted 4,410,105 people in work in August 2026, which is 85,042 (2.0%) more than a year earlier.¹ In August 2026 the unemployment rate was 4.9% for men and 10.3% for women.¹ It was 15.6% for people aged 15 to 24 and 6.9% for those aged 25 to 74.¹ ELSTAT warns that monthly estimates carry large sampling errors and that quarterly figures are more reliable.¹

Kerameus called 7.4% "the second lowest level ever recorded in Greece", in our translation.²³ When the August figure came out, CNN Greece quoted her calling it an 18-year low, and Dimokratia called it the lowest reading since May 2008.⁴⁵ ELSTAT's August 2026 release makes no comparison with 2008, so these remain the minister's and Dimokratia's claims.¹ Kerameus also said that "about 600,000 people have found work in the last seven years", in our translation.²³ We have not checked the 600,000 figure: ELSTAT's August 2026 release gives employment numbers only from August 2021 (earlier years appear only in a chart), and neither report says which data it rests on.¹²³

Who is striking on Wednesday 25 November 2026?

ΟΙΥΕ (Ομοσπονδία Ιδιωτικών Υπαλλήλων Ελλάδος, Omospondia Idiotikon Ypallilon Ellados), the federation of private-sector employees, has called a nationwide strike for 25 November 2026, Epirusgate and 902.gr report.⁶⁷ ΟΙΥΕ's own website showed no announcement of the strike when we checked on 11 October 2026.⁸ Epirusgate reports that ΟΙΥΕ is striking for pay rises, the signing of collective labour agreements and shorter working hours.⁶ It adds that ΟΙΥΕ plans regional meetings in Ioannina, Thessaloniki, Patras and Crete, with no dates announced yet.⁶

The board of the Patras Labour Centre (Εργατικό Κέντρο Πάτρας, Ergatiko Kentro Patras) unanimously called a 24-hour strike for 25 November 2026, according to its statement.⁹ The Patras Labour Centre has called a rally for 10:30 on 25 November 2026 outside its building.⁹ The Labour Centre of Kefalonia and Ithaca has called a 24-hour strike across both islands on Wednesday 25 November 2026.¹⁰

ΟΕΦΣΕΕ, the federation of pharmaceutical-sector workers, has called a nationwide strike in its sector on Wednesday 25 November 2026.¹¹⁷ The construction workers' federation (Ομοσπονδία Οικοδόμων, Omospondia Oikodomon) says its members strike nationwide on Wednesday 25 November 2026.¹²⁷ 902.gr, the website of the Communist Party of Greece (Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ΚΚΕ, Kommounistiko Komma Elladas), also lists the milk, food and drink federation and the press-and-paper federation among the callers; we have not read their own statements.⁷

ΓΣΕΕ (Γενική Συνομοσπονδία Εργατών Ελλάδας, Geniki Synomospondia Ergaton Elladas), the private-sector union confederation, is not named among the callers in any source we read.⁶⁷⁹¹⁰ ΑΔΕΔΥ (Ανώτατη Διοίκηση Ενώσεων Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων, Anotati Dioikisi Enoseon Dimosion Ypallilon), the public-sector union confederation, had posted nothing about 25 November on its own website when we checked on 11 October 2026.¹³

e-ΕΦΚΑ says a main pension now takes under 42 days, but its June backlog figure does not quite match

e-ΕΦΚΑ (Ηλεκτρονικός Εθνικός Φορέας Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ilektronikos Ethnikos Foreas Koinonikis Asfalisis), Greece's unified social-security fund, says the average time to issue a main pension is now under 42 days.¹⁴¹⁵ Its press spokesperson, Foteini Vryna (Φωτεινή Βρύνα), gave the figure to ERT, the public broadcaster, on 10 October 2026.¹⁴ The 42-day figure is not new: e-ΕΦΚΑ's governor, Alexandros Varveris, gave "about 42 days", in our translation, in late August 2026, Larissanet reported.¹⁸

Vryna said that, on June 2026 data, pending applications were "below 12,000", in our translation.¹⁴¹⁵ She said pending applications were down 92% on 2019, and that 1,570,000 requests had been completed since 2019.¹⁴¹⁵ She said the longest delays are mainly in cases of successive and parallel insurance, meaning people insured with more than one of the old funds, one after another or at the same time.¹⁴¹⁵

e-ΕΦΚΑ's ATLAS report for June 2026, as reported by Insider and Dnews, puts overdue main-pension applications (those older than 90 days) at 12,189 at the end of June 2026.¹⁶¹⁷ That is above the "below 12,000" that the spokesperson gave for the same month, and none of these sources explains the difference.¹⁴¹⁶¹⁷ In June 2026, e-ΕΦΚΑ completed 21,511 pension applications and received 17,934 new ones, according to the same two reports.¹⁶¹⁷

When does the ΕΑΕ 2026 farm-aid application close?

The 2026 Single Aid Application (Ενιαία Αίτηση Ενίσχυσης, ΕΑΕ, Eniaia Aitisi Enischysis), often still called ΟΣΔΕ, after the Integrated Administration and Control System (Ολοκληρωμένο Σύστημα Διαχείρισης και Ελέγχου, Olokliromeno Systima Diacheirisis kai Elenchou; IACS in EU terms) through which farm aid is managed and checked, closes on Friday 16 October 2026.¹⁹ΕΛ²⁰²¹ The application is now run by ΑΑΔΕ (Ανεξάρτητη Αρχή Δημοσίων Εσόδων, Anexartiti Archi Dimosion Esodon), Greece's tax authority.¹⁹²⁰²¹ ΑΑΔΕ's FAQ says an ΕΑΕ 2026 application filed after 16 October 2026 is inadmissible, except in cases of force majeure or exceptional circumstances.¹⁹ΕΛ²¹ Applications are made on the myAGRO platform of ΑΑΔΕ's myAADE portal, Agrotypos reports.²⁰

A late ΕΑΕ 2026 application is inadmissible unless there is force majeure or there are exceptional circumstances, ΑΑΔΕ says.¹⁹ΕΛ

Under ΑΑΔΕ decision Α.1184/2026, an advance payment "may be granted" by 31 October 2026 to farmers who filed by 25 September 2026, and by 30 November 2026 to those who file from 26 September 2026 until the deadline, in our translation.²² For changes, ΑΑΔΕ said on 12 October 2026 that changes made by 10 October 2026 to applications filed by 25 September 2026 count for the 31 October advance, and changes made by 10 November 2026 to applications filed by the new 30 October deadline count for the 30 November advance.²³ Changes to rural-development measures are allowed until 16 November 2026, and to eco-schemes and coupled income support until 31 March 2027; ΑΑΔΕ says its governor may change these dates.¹⁹ Workenter gives 26 September 2026 as the start of the 30 November advance window, which matches ΑΑΔΕ's decision.²¹²²

Update, 12 October 2026: ΑΑΔΕ extended the deadline for the ΕΑΕ 2026 application to Friday 30 October 2026.²³