Unemployment in debt-ridden Greece jumped to a record of 26 per cent in the final quarter of 2012. The number is alarming in a country struggling to get back on its feet after a tragic second half of the past decade. The harsh austerity measures coupled with a difficult recession have had a massive impact on the Greek workforce.

The numbers were poorer than the previous quarter’s 24.8 per cent, and 20.7 per cent in the corresponding time a year earlier. The Greek statistics authority announced Thursday that 1.29 million people were unemployed in October-December 2012.

Greece’s economy has been falling to pieces over the last three years, brutalized by its on-going financial woes. The country is living on international loans and hand-outs, given only on the condition that Greece continues its policies of fiscal responsibility.