Greek unemployment shot to 22.6 percent in the first quarter of the year, with the unemployed persons exceeding 1.1 million, according top a Labour Force Survey released by the independent Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) on Thursday.

ELSTAT said that in the 1st Quarter of 2012 the number of employed amounted to 3,837,950 persons while the number of unemployed amounted to 1,120,097. The unemployment rate was 22.6% compared with 20.7% in the previous quarter, and 15.9% in the corresponding quarter of 2011

The number of employed persons decreased by 2.4% compared with the previous quarter, and by 10.7% compared with the 1st Quarter of 2011. The number of unemployed persons increased by 9.2% compared with the previous quarter and by 57.3% compared with the 1st Quarter of 2011.

The unemployment rate for females (26.5%) is considerably higher than the unemployment rate for males (19.7%).

By observing the unemployment rate for different age groups, we notice that the highest unemployment rate is recorded among young people in the age group of 15-24 years (52.7%). For young females, the unemployment rate is 60.4%, ELSTAT said.