Pre-Olympics 4% GDP growth caused the Greek unemployment rate to drop to 8.9% in the second quarter of 2003, a full percentage point lower than it was in 2002 and .

The 8.9% Greek unemployment rate is now identical to that of the other eurozone countries (according to Eurostat figures), while the EU 15 jobless rate is 8.1%. The job creation rate in Greece rose 1.7% over the previous year.

According to the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) The number of unemployed women amounts to 242,000 women (as compared to 150,200 unemployed men). The state recently announced new measures to help female workers, including more part-time civil service jobs (especially for mothers), employer incentives for hiring unemployed women and better social services, including daycare programmes.

Regional differences also persist, as unemployment ranges from 15.7% in the region of Western Macedonia to 4.8% in Crete. Those who are living in the countryside cannot always access training/development programmes. To counterbalance this Greece has recently launched 70 new employment development centres.