Greek unemployment crosses 27 percent overall but a staggering 64 percent for youths ! Despite at least three bailouts and receiving various tranches of welfare , what good news are Greek citizens receiving ?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-09/cyprus-capital-controls-will-continue-until-morale-improves

Cyprus' Capital Controls Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/09/2013 11:51 -0400

Proving that in Europe the logic behind the saying that "the beatings will continue until moral improves" is alive and well, was the announcement by the Cyprus central bank head Panicos that capital controls in the country will remain in place until confidence returns. We'll let that sink in for a minute.

From AP:

Panicos Demetriades said the Central Bank wants to eliminate these controls as soon as possible, but it has to first make sure that trust in the banks has recovered sufficiently. He said a rush of withdrawals would put additional strain on the banks that they can hardly afford right now.

"We have to keep in mind the dangers of easing (restrictions) overly quickly," Demetriades told a press conference. "We have to be careful with these relaxations. It's more important to see how trust can be restored in the banking system."

The Central Bank had always refused to estimate how long the controls would last, though government officials have said they would last several weeks. Some of the controls, such as bank money transfers, have been eased to help local companies do business. But many others — such as the daily withdrawal limit — remain in place.

One wonders just how capital controls remaining in place -  a sign that the government itself has zero confidence in the people and the banks - makes any sense especially considering that French FinMin as recently as a month ago told "To all those who say that we are strangling an entire people ... Cyprus is a casino economy that was on the brink of bankruptcy."

So, casino economy on the bring of bankruptcy, with an insolvent banking sector, yet where confidence is expected to return on its own eventually. Sounds like your typical European "plan" of attack.

In other words, a perfectly circular #Ref!

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-09/greek-unemployment-hits-new-record-high-youth-jobless-rises-5-one-month-642

Greek Unemployment Hits New Record High, Youth Jobless Rises By 5% In One Month To 64.2%

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/09/2013 07:50 -0400

• BLS
 
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
 
• Reality
 
• Unemployment

The Greek economic depressionary catastrophe continues to merrily chug along. Hours ago, Greek Elstat reported that February unemployment rose to a new record high of 27.0%, with the January number revised from 27.2% to 26.7%, up from 21.9% in February 2012, and almost as if unlike the Greek BLS is not even trying to fudge numbers anymore and wants to show a deteriorating situation (or, as it was called in the Old Normal - "reality").

That said, if the numbers were indeed gamed, the Greek statistical bureau had person-level detail: "The number of employed amounted to 3,568,186 persons. ?he number of unemployed amounted to 1,320,189 while the number of inactive to 3,358,649.... The number of employed decreased by 270,766 persons compared with February 2012 (a 7.1% rate of decrease) and by 28,650 persons compared with January 2013 (a 0.8% rate of decrease). Unemployed increased by 245,021 persons (a 22.8% rate of increase) compared with February 2012 and by 11,663 persons compared with January 2013 (a 0.9% rate of increase)."

Looking at the Shadow economy, the number of people who are inactive, or "neither worked neither looked for a job", hit 3,358,649. This number is just shy of the total people employed, meaning in 2-3 months, the Greek shadow economy will be greater than the official, taxed-one. A gender breakdown shows that females have never had it worse with 31% unemployment, compared to 24.1% for men.

But the most stunning number was the number of unemployed Greek youths (15-24), which hit a record 64.2%, the highest number on record, and a mindblowing 5% increase from the 58.3% youth unemployment reported inJanuary, and a 10% increase from a year ago.

Remember: all those unemployed people according to CNBC are just employed people on the sidelines, and is a bullish sign of pent up jobs. And sooner or later, they will reemerge as victorious workers in some European Kolhoz bringing victory and prosperity to the latest European KomIntern.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_09/05/2013_497927

Slovak bank sues Greece over 2012 bond swap Slovak bank Postova Banka said it is suing Greece at an international arbitration tribunal over the forced exchange of the country’s bonds last year. Postova said it and shareholder Istrokapital SE were suing Greece at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) because it believed Greece broke international treaties in the bond swap. “Greece adopted measures which broke international agreements. By doing that, it damaged the value of our investment. It is our duty to protect our investment and fight for our rights,” Chief Executive Marek Tarda said in a statement. Part of the World Bank Group, the ICSID is a leading independent institution for the resolution of international investment disputes. The bank said it believed Greek actions broke bilateral investment treaties between Slovakia and Greece and Cyprus and Greece. Under the bond swap, investors took a 53.5 percent loss on their investments as part of Greece’s program to cut its debt. [Reuters] http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_09/05/2013_497920 Most of Cyprus pain inflicted on overseas depositors, central bank says Cyprus' central bank said on Thursday most of the depositors who lost money at bailed-out Bank of Cyprus were from overseas and that Cypriots had not been hit as hard as might have been expected. "Seventy percent of the value of deposits concerned overseas residents, leaving Cypriot households and businesses unaffected to a greater extent than was possibly expected," Central Bank of Cyprus Governor Panicos Demetriades told a news conference. He said overall 96 percent of deposits in Cyprus were unaffected by losses on larger accounts required by the euro zone in exchange for aid to the overly indebted country. "Certainly what happened was very painful for many depositors, particularly those who did not have loans (which were netted against deposits). But 96 percent of deposits were not affected," Demetriades said. In exchange for a 10 billion euro bailout from the euro zone and International Monetary Fund, Cyprus was forced to close Laiki, its second biggest bank, and restructure its biggest, Bank of Cyprus, including imposing losses on deposits over 100,000 euros. Many of Cyprus' overseas depositors have traditionally been from Russia. [Reuters]