Greek quarterly unemployment falls for first time in almost four years

Greece's jobless rate dropped slightly to 27.1 percent in the second quarter of 2013 from 27.4 percent in the previous three-month period as economic activity slumped, the country's statistics service said on Thursday.

It was the first drop in quarterly unemployment since the third quarter of 2009 but still near a record level hit in the first quarter.

Greece has already published monthly unemployment figures up to June, which differ from quarterly figures because they are based on different samples.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos)