ATHENS, Dec 16 Reuters Greece39;s jobless rate fell to 11.6 in the third quarter from 12.4 in the second quarter of the year, data from the country39;s statistics service ELSTAT showed on Friday.

About 63 of Greece39;s 555,567 jobless are longterm unemployed, meaning they have been out of work for at least 12 months, the figures showed.

Greece39;s highest unemployment rate was recorded in the first quarter of 2014, when it hit 27.8.

The latest data showed that women and young people in the 1519 age group were most affected among the jobless.

The jobless rate for women was 15.4 versus 8.7 for men, while for people aged 1519 it stood at 40.2.

Athens has already published monthly unemployment figures through October, which differ from quarterly data because they are based on different samples and are seasonally adjusted.

Quarterly figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Hugh Lawson

Source Reuters