Greece’s unemployment rose to 21.9 per cent in March, spiking from 15.7 per cent in the same month last year and up from 21.4 per cent in February.

Greece has been struggling through a vicious financial crisis for the past two years, and has been relying on billions of euros in international rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010.

In return, Greece has made deep spending cuts and imposed major tax hikes, leaving the country mired in a deep recession.

Greece’s statistics agency said that unemployment jumped by 37.8 per cent in March compared with the same month in 2011.

Compared with February 2012, there were 21,625 more people unemployed this March, a 2.1 per cent increase.