Greek unemployment drops to 14.2% in July

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's jobless rate dropped to 14.2% in July from 15.0% in the previous month, data from the statistics service ELSTAT showed on Wednesday.

Seasonally adjusted data showed 664,384 people were officially unemployed, with those aged under 24 the hardest hit.

The jobless rate for young people aged 15-24 dropped to 32.3% in July from 35.8% in the same month a year earlier, the data showed.

After hitting a record high of 27.8% in September 2013, Greece's jobless rate has been falling but it remains the highest in the euro zone.

Joblessness affected women more than men, with the respective rates in July at 20.2% and 14.1%.

Greece's economy grew strongly in the second quarter, beating forecasts, with its annual expansion rate hitting 16.2% as consumer spending and investments picked up.

Last week Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the economy was set to grow by a better-than-expected 5.9% for this year as a whole.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Toby Chopra)