Microeconomics

In the third quarter of 2019 there were 125.4 thousand unemployed persons, of whom 70.9 thousand (56.5%) men and 54.5 thousand (43.5%) women. The unemployment rate was 3.7% and went down by 1.3 percentage points from the third quarter of 2018. The unemployment rate was 3.8% for men and 3.4% for women.

A school bus driver and two escorts were arrested on Wednesday on charges of exposing a child to danger after abandoning a 3-year-old boy in a bus for at least three hours.

The incident occurred on Tuesday morning in the suburb of Pallini, eastern Attica, after the bus picked up children from their homes and transported them to a privater daycare center.

September was a record month for auctions and the last quarter of the year points to a further expansion, as 6,425 auctions are scheduled, according to Axia Ventures Group.

After a long period of inactivity due to the elections and the summer lull, auctions returned in September with 3,195 having been scheduled for the month, up 18 percent annually.

Greece sold 488 million euros ($535.82 million) of three-month treasury bills to refinance a maturing issue with the yield turning negative for the first time ever, the country's debt agency PDMA said on Wednesday.

The debt agency sold the new paper at a yield of -0.02 percent, down from 0.095 percent, in a previous sale in August.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Bulgaria's budget surplus has shrunk to 600 million euros by the end of August. A month before that, the Treasury's surplus was above 1.5 billion euros, but sharply decreased after the deal for purchasing F-16 fighters, BNR reported.

The government announced on Saturday a number of measures to support tourism enterprises and workers affected by the demise of UK tour operator Thomas Cook.

The Greek branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has launched an initiative in cooperation with Unilever Food Solutions aimed at curbing food waste at three hotels.

The National Statistical Institute reports record low unemployment in Bulgaria. For the second quarter of the year the coefficient is 4.2 percent and compared to the second quarter of 2018 decreased by 1.3 percentage points. The total number of unemployed for the period is 142.0 thousand, of which 82.7 thousand (58.2 percent) are men and 59.3 thousand (41.8 percent) are women.

Greece sold 813 million euros ($906.17 million) of six-month treasury bills to refinance a maturing issue, the country's debt agency PDMA said on Wednesday.

The debt agency sold the new paper at a yield of 0.15 percent, down 8 basis point from 0.23 percent in a previous sale in July. The amount raised included 187.5 million euros in non-competitive bids.

Industrialists expect the new government to accelerate the licensing process, cut energy costs and offer amortization incentives, but have expressed disappointment that there is no ministry for industry.